Denmark, Sweden and UK top Climate Change Performance Index

Whilst global emissions have reached a new peak, developments suggest a new readiness for action on climate change protections, according to a new index, with Denmark, Sweden and the UK toping rankings.

The Climate Change Performance Index, published by Germanwatch and CAN Europe, ranks the performance of the 58 highest emitters worldwide. The organisations have left the first, second and third places empty, stating that none of the countries are doing enough to prevent dangerous climate change. As a result, Denmark, Sweden and the UK rank fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.

Of industrialised nations, Australia is at the bottom, ranking 60th, also scoring poorly were Brazil and Japan.

The index has been released as government ministers meet in Lima, Peru, to discuss and hammer out an international climate change agreement to come into force in 2020

Jan Burck, author of the index, commented, “We see global trends, indicating promising shifts in some of the most relevant sectors for climate protection. The rise of emissions has slowed down, and renewables are rapidly growing due to declining costs and massive investments.”

Europe in general was described as a “mixed picture”, with many EU countries ranking highly with others, like Poland and Bulgaria, scoring poorly because of their opposition to further steps nationally and in the bloc.

Wendel Trio, director of CAN Europe, explained, “Neither the current 2020 nor the new 2030 climate target are in line with the reductions needed by Europe to avert catastrophic climate change and achieve 100% renewables by 2050.

“To do this Europe must meets its target to reduce energy consumption by 20% by 2020 against projections, phase out all fossil fuel subsidies immediately, and agree on a fundamental reform of its Emissions Trading Scheme before the Paris Climate Summit.”

Photo: Attilio Lombardo via Freeimages 

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