Sustainability and Climate Change Governance
Sustainability and Climate Change Governance is a research topic within Global and Planetary Change. Science Explorer counts 17k research works in it since 1950. 35.6% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.
This cluster of papers explores sustainability transitions and resilience in social-ecological systems, focusing on topics such as adaptive governance, climate change adaptation, renewable energy, policy mixes, scenario planning, and transition management. It emphasizes the socio-technical perspective and the need for transformative change to address global environmental challenges.
- Sustainability Transitions
- Resilience
- Social-Ecological Systems
- Adaptive Governance
- Climate Change Adaptation
- Renewable Energy
- Policy Mixes
- Scenario Planning
- Transition Management
- Socio-Technical Perspective
- Research works
- 17k fractional, since 1950
- In the world top 10%
- 6k per year above
- Top-10% rate
- 35.6% share of its works in the world top 10%
- Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
- +44% the tick is no change
Which countries lead Sustainability and Climate Change Governance research?
By volume, the United States and the United Kingdom publish the most (621 and 470 works in 2022–2025).
By volume, 2022–2025
- 1 United States 621 works
- 2 United Kingdom 470 works
- 3 Germany 461 works
- 4 Netherlands 270 works
- 5 China 235 works
- 6 Sweden 214 works
- 7 Australia 210 works
- 8 Italy 158 works
- 9 Canada 157 works
- 10 France 153 works
How concentrated that is
The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.
Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.
Which institutions lead Sustainability and Climate Change Governance research?
By volume in 2022–2025, Utrecht University publishes the most Sustainability and Climate Change Governance research, followed by Wageningen University & Research and Lund University.
By volume, 2022–2025
- 1 Utrecht University Netherlands 41 works
- 2 Wageningen University & Research Netherlands 32 works
- 3 Lund University Sweden 31 works
- 4 Delft University of Technology Netherlands 30 works
- 5 Linköping University Sweden 27 works
- 6 University of Helsinki Finland 23 works
- 7 University of Oxford United Kingdom 22 works
- 8 University of Manchester United Kingdom 21 works
- 9 University College London United Kingdom 19 works
- 10 University of Sussex United Kingdom 19 works
Who are the leading researchers in Sustainability and Climate Change Governance?
The most-cited researchers publishing on Sustainability and Climate Change Governance include Johan Rockström, W. Neil Adger and Carl Folke.
- 1 Johan Rockström 3.9k citations
- 2 W. Neil Adger 3.7k citations
- 3 Carl Folke 3.2k citations
- 4 Stephen R. Carpenter 3.2k citations
- 5 Frank W. Geels 3.1k citations
- 6 Benjamin K. Sovacool 2.9k citations
- 7 Simon A. Levin 2.7k citations
- 8 Detlef P. van Vuuren 2.6k citations
Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.
Where is Sustainability and Climate Change Governance research done?
The largest centres of Sustainability and Climate Change Governance research in 2022–2025 are London (United Kingdom), Beijing (China), Stockholm (Sweden) and Berlin (Germany). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Linköping, Wageningen and Brighton.
Largest cities, 2022–2025
Where it is the local speciality
- LinköpingSE · 28.6 works20×
- WageningenNL · 32.5 works18×
- BrightonGB · 21.5 works14×
- PotsdamDE · 25.9 works12×
- DelftNL · 42.4 works12×
Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Sustainability and Climate Change Governance than the world average.
Where is the best place to study Sustainability and Climate Change Governance?
Among universities, judged by research, Utrecht University, Wageningen University & Research and University of Sussex score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.
One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.
| # | University | Score | Top 10% | Specialisation | Works | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Utrecht University Netherlands | 76.8 | 47.0% | 16.5× | 40 | +87.8% |
| 2 | Wageningen University & Research Netherlands | 70.8 | 46.7% | 19.0× | 32 | +20.7% |
| 3 | University of Sussex United Kingdom | 70.6 | 45.1% | 20.9× | 19 | +168.0% |
| 4 | Lund University Sweden | 67.9 | 43.3% | 11.7× | 31 | +33.8% |
| 5 | Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Sweden | 67.0 | 49.3% | 15.2× | 11 | +129.6% |
| 6 | Leuphana University of Lüneburg Germany | 64.0 | 49.4% | 36.1× | 13 | +121.8% |
| 7 | University of Bergen Norway | 63.3 | 34.2% | 11.4× | 14 | +211.1% |
| 8 | Linköping University Sweden | 62.8 | 37.5% | 20.9× | 27 | +43.7% |
| 9 | University of Groningen Netherlands | 62.4 | 45.3% | 6.8× | 16 | +497.7% |
| 10 | Erasmus University Rotterdam Netherlands | 61.4 | 48.6% | 8.8× | 12 | +125.9% |
Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.
Is Sustainability and Climate Change Governance research growing?
Output in 2018–2022 was 44% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2026. The fastest-growing topics are Sustainability and Climate Change Governance.
The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.
Which topics inside it are moving
Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.