New Zealand and the United States do the best job of regulating their coastlines in a way that balances environmental protections with economic development, according to a new policy tool from The Economist Intelligence Unit.

The Coastal Governance Index is the first attempt to measure and compare the regulatory environments in these fragile and often-densely populated areas, which are coveted by governments, conservationists and the private sector.

Coastal areas are home to 44% of the world’s population. In countries like the US, more than a third of the gross national product originates in coastal areas. Economic opportunities and balancing multi-stakeholder interests in these areas require good coastal governance.

Jimena Serrano, project manager of the research programme which was sponsored by the Packard Foundation commented:

“Despite no global standards on how to manage the coasts, countries are slowly advancing towards governance systems that allow competing uses to thrive in these areas. This index measures the existence and effectiveness of these efforts”

The majority of countries have made a good start towards effective coastal governance, but all still need work, according to The Economist Intelligence Unit. Most countries score in the top half of the index, suggesting that governments have taken initial steps to balance the needs of the environment and economic development. At the same time, no country is perfect, and none scores highly in all six categories of the index.

Other key findings include:

Top performers typically have high GDP per capita. The study reveals a strong correlation between GDP per capital and overall index scores suggesting that richer countries have better coastal governance policies on average. The correlation would have been even higher had Russia been excluded. Russia has a higher GDP per capita than about half the countries in the index, yet it comes last in three of the six categories and is last overall.

 Emerging markets struggle to keep up. Richer countries have better chances than poor ones at having good coastal governance policies including water quality standards, clear licensing and permitting processes in the oil and gas industry and better fisheries management.

Countries that have strong institutional support for coastal governance fare better overall than the ones that do not. Countries with well-developed regulatory frameworks around coastal management and marine spatial planning, and which have formally committed to transparency in rent distribution, are more likely to outperform countries with a weaker coastal management foundation. This shows the need for a pre-existing, comprehensive and rigorous operating framework.

Democratic countries with inclusive policymaking lead the way. The correlation between the overall coastal governance score and the EIU’s Democracy Index is 0.77, suggesting that participatory inclusion in decision-making and accountability may contribute to better policies in this area. New Zealand ranks first in the Coastal Governance Index, followed by the United States. These countries score well in each of the six index categories, highlighting the need to have a well-rounded approach to coastal governance. Top countries successfully balance the needs of environmental protection and sustainable development.

The Economist Intelligence Unit convened a panel of 10 experts in coastal governance, reviewed hundreds of documents and built a user-friendly measurement tool that allows users to understand how well governments are managing their coastal assets. The index focuses on foundational support for coastal management and resources such as water, oil and gas, land and living resources.

 Click here to access the Coastal Governance Index report and benchmarking model which are available free of charge.