Less than one month from the UK hosting the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), new data from Elsevier, a global leader in research publishing and information analytics, has revealed that the UK is a world leader in sustainable development research.
Elsevier analyzed more than 25.6m research papers published between 2012 and 2020, exploring the quantity and quality of research dedicated to the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While the UK outperformed many countries across the full suite of SDGs, it fell behind on some of the climate related SDGs—work that will be critical to the world finding lasting solutions to the climate crisis.
The analysis found that the UK exceeds the average output share of research among world-leading countries related to 11 out of 16 SDGs: No Poverty (1), Good Health and Well-Being (3), Quality Education (4), Gender Equality (5), Decent Work and Economic Growth (8), Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure (9), Reduced Inequalities (10), Climate Action (13), Life Below Water (14), Life On Land (15) and Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions (17).
However, the UK is lagging behind the average of world-leading countries in the volume of research related to several of the SDGs which also align with the UK Government’s agendas focused on the growth of sustainable industries in the UK, including: Affordable and Clean Energy (7), Responsible Consumption and Production (12), Sustainable Cities and Communities (11), Clean Water and Sanitation (6), and Zero Hunger (2).
The quality of the research produced in the UK relating to the UN’s SDGs is world-leading across all 16 areas mapped. This feat was also achieved to a lesser degree by the USA, Italy and Germany as illustrated in the Appendix. China and India led the way in the volume of research in the fields of clean energy and water.
To determine the UK’s performance against the average of eight world-leading countries (China, India, Japan, USA, France, Germany and Italy), each paper was analyzed and categorized in terms of subject focus and author location, before being mapped by Relative Activity Index (RAI) and Field Weighted Citation Index (FWIC).
Last week also saw the launch of the Welsh Government Office for Science report “United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: Wales’ Research Performance”.
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