Climate Change Performance Index Updated

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The new edition of the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) was released by Germanwatch and CAN Europe in Warsaw at the UN climate talks. The results show emissions worldwide have climbed to a new peak and no single country is yet on track to prevent dangerous climate change.

“Unexpectedly, for the first time our Index also draws a cautious picture of hope”, says Jan Burck, the author of the Index that ranks the climate protection performance of the 58 highest emitters worldwide. “We see positive signals towards a slow down in the increase in global CO₂ emissions. And China – the world’s biggest emitter – improved its performance in climate protection.”

Nevertheless, no country made it into the first three spots on the list due to a lack of ambition to reach the goal of keeping global warming below two degrees Celsius. Denmark clearly defended its fourth place in the Index. Its policy evaluation is exceptional: it managed to slightly improve its score in nearly every sector compared to the previous year. The United Kingdom took 5^th place (previously ranked 10th) due to a decrease in emissions of 15% in the last five years plus an improvement in its efficiency, while Portugal is ranked 6th (previously ranked 7th).
Canada and Australia are the worst performers of all the industrialised countries, also Japan dropped several ranks. After a change in government, Australia’s policy evaluation was much worse than previous years; consequently it has fallen to a rank of 57th (previously ranked 51st). One of main reasons for this decline was a turnaround on previous commitments to install a carbon levy and trade system that would have helped to reduce emissions. Canada still shows no intention of moving forward with climate policy and therefore remains at 58^th position for another year. Only Iran (59th), Kazakhstan (60th) and Saudi Arabia (61st) have worse ratings.

By Kevin Gosztola

remainder here