Emerging economies top Climate Change Performance Index 2017
Emerging economies are on top in the Climate Change Performance Index 2017.
Countries of the G20 like India, Argentina and Brazil are leading in the latest Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) 2017 with Morocco as a frontrunner in Africa, a press release copied to ghanabusinessnews.com has said.
India ranks 20, Argentina at 36 and Brazil stands at 40. They all improved their rankings in the CCPI 2017, it said.
The release noted however, that there is still no big emitter acting in line with the 1.5-2°C limit, therefore the first three ranks are left empty.
France, ranking at number four is leading the table for the first time, profiting from the exceptional diplomacy enabling the Paris Agreement last year. Sweden (5) and the United Kingdom (6) both benefit from promising climate policies established by former governments.
“This year’s CCPI confirms that many EU countries, including the UK, Sweden, Denmark and Germany risk losing their leading role in renewable energy development. Several EU Member States cut back on investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency, questioned agreed long-term mitigation targets or failed to set the necessary policy frame work to deliver on their short-term goals. It will only be a matter of time before they lose the leading positions in the CCPI,” Wendel Trio, Director of Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe was cited as saying in the release.
“Denmark, the index leader of the last four years, is already experiencing the consequences of its turn-around in climate policy with a dramatic drop in the ranking to place 13 this year. Emerging economies are catching up in the progress of transitioning their energy systems and EU countries have to raise ambition if they want to uphold leading positions. EU Member States soon have an opportunity to change gears by ensuring new policies on renewable energy and energy efficiency will go well beyond the weak proposals the European Commission is currently developing. This will be the litmus test for Europe’s transition,” Trio said.
According to the release, Canada (55), Australia (57) and Japan (60) are in the bottom group (rated “very poor”) of the Index. Japan once again dropped two places as national experts criticize its government for a very poor climate policy. Australia dropped in energy efficiency and is criticized for unambitious climate policies.
It noted that “The performance of the world’s two largest emitters, USA (43) and China (48), is still rated “poor” in the CCPI. The United States lost some ground in almost every Index category and as a result dropped several places.
It added that, “The election results in the USA might pose risks to the speed of the ongoing transition. The election of Donald Trump as president has however not yet had any influence on the policy evaluation presented in CCPI 2017. Despite China being rated “poor”, positive developments are seen thanks to shrinking consumption of coal globally, which resulted in China stopping the construction of 30 coal fired power plants the last year.
The Index was prepared by Germanwatch, an independent development and environmental organisation based in Bonn and Berlin, Germany and Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe, a coalition working on climate and energy issues.
By Pamela Ofori-Boateng
Copyright © 2016 by Creative Imaginations Publicity
All rights reserved. This news item or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in reviews.