Am 27. Januar 2021 veröffentlichte die University of Pennsylvania zum 13. Mal ihr „Global Go To Think Tank Index Report“. Das Wuppertal Institut konnte sich beim internationalen Denkfabriken-Vergleich zum vierten Mal in Folge einen Top-Ten-Platz sichern und bestätigt damit die gute Position der Vorjahre. In dem globalen Ranking von Think Tanks vom Jahr 2020 belegt das Wuppertal Institut Platz 9 in der Kategorie Umweltpolitik und zählt damit zu den zehn renommiertesten Umweltforschungs- und Beratungsinstituten weltweit.

Every year, the University of Pennsylvania publishes a report assessing the best think tanks. The annual Global Go To Think Tank Index Report by the Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program (TTCSP) examines the role played by political research institutes in advising governments and exchanging with civil society worldwide.

The Wuppertal Institute was voted into the top ten again for the forth time in a row, achieving the ninth place as in the previous year. This makes the Institute one of the world’s leading international think tanks in the Top Environment Policy Think Tanks category. Professor Dr. Manfred Fischedick, Scientific Managing Director of the Wuppertal Institute, is very pleased that the voice of the Wuppertal Institute is also heard internationally and thus the work and high commitment of the Institute’s scientists is honoured. He says “Many of the ecological challenges, such as climate protection in particular, can only be solved on a global level. It is of utmost importance to us to prepare scientific findings in such a way that they concretely show options for action that can then be taken up worldwide. Last but not least the Covid 19 pandemic has made it clear how important the role of science is in solving the major challenges of the future. We want to continue to contribute to this with all our might“.

2020 Think Tank Index
The goal of the TTCSP is to raise the profile, capacity, and performance of think tanks at the national, regional, and global levels. The TTCSP works with leading scholars and practitioners from think tanks and universities in a variety of collaborations and programs, and produces the annual Global Go To Think Tank Index, which ranks the world’s leading think tanks in a variety of categories. This year the panel is composed of a total of more than 1,800 political decision makers, journalists and academics as well as public and private sponsors who participated in the survey in their capacity as experts in their fields. In total, over 11,000 think tanks were invited to participate in the nomination and ranking process.

Think tank institutes within the Johannes Rau Research Association
Two further organisations belonging to the Johannes Rau Research Association (JRF), of which the Wuppertal Institute is also a member, are represented in the global think tank index: the German Development Institute (DIE) , which ranks third in „Top International Development Policy Think Tanks“ and fifth in „Best Government-Affiliated Think Tanks,“ as well as the Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC). Professor Manfred Fischedick: „This demonstrates the strong positioning of North Rhine-Westphalia’s research landscape at the international level“.

Think tank institutes of the Ecological Research Network
Three institutes of the Ecornet were also able to sustain their position in the think tank ranking. The Ecological Researach Network (Ecornet) is a network of eight independent, non-profit institutes of environmental and sustainability research in Germany, of which the Wuppertal Institute is also a member. This year, the first place in the “TOP Environmental Policy” category went to the Ecologic Institute. The Institute for Ecological Economy Research (IÖW) and the Öko-Institut are also well represented in the think tank ranking.

Further information:
Press release as PDF dokument
2020 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report
TTCSP Global Go To Think Tank Index Reports