OVERVIEW OF THE ESG TRENDS AMONG COUNTRIES PART OF OECD

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria have become fundamental benchmarks for assessing sustainable development and corporate responsibility around the world. This paper provides an overview of the latest ESG trends among countries that are members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and among candidate countries. By analyzing different ESG performance on a selection of three indicators for each pillar, the study identifies the latest trends for these indicators, key patterns, challenges, and opportunities in the transition towards a more sustainable economy. The idea for the paper started from the small number of articles written on both topics, OECD and ESG. The paper is based on querying the web of science database to identify papers containing the terms “ESG” and “OECD” in the topic. Also, to obtain data on the indicators that define ESG criteria, the database provided by the World Bank was accessed. The study covers the following indicators: CO2 emissions, renewable electricity output, forest area, people using safely managed drinking water services, population ages 65 and above, unemployment, total, GDP growth, proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments and scientific and technical journal articles, at the level of the 38 OECD country members and the candidate countries for 1990 (were possible), 2005 and 2019/2020/2021 (depending of the last year available) The chosen indicators offer valuable insights into the sustainable performance of national economies, highlighting how national priorities align with global sustainable development goals.