Brussels, 10/12/2014 (Agence Europe) - Denmark has held onto its place as world champion in the fight against climate change, followed by Sweden and the United Kingdom, with Canada and Australia bringing up the rear in the league table of industrialised countries, according to the 2015 Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI), which was presented in Lima on Tuesday 9 December by Germanwatch and CAN Europe, on the sidelines of international climate talks (COP 20).
The 10th edition of this index, which every year ranks the 58 biggest emitters of greenhouse gases in the world, is encouraging. “The rise of emissions has slowed down, and renewables are rapidly growing due to declining costs and massive investments”, said Jan Burck of Germanwatch, author of the index.
However, this is not grounds for complacency, because “no country is doing enough to fight climate change”, the two organisations stress. This is why the first three places in the league table have been left empty.
India ranks higher than nine EU countries. In Europe, the results are mixed. Denmark (fourth place, on the back of its renewables policy), Sweden (fifth place) and the United Kingdom (sixth place) did well, followed by Portugal (seventh place) and Cyprus (eighth), but India (31st), whose level of emissions per head of population remains low, is more efficient than nine member states of the EU (Finland comes 32nd, Lithuania 33rd, Croatia 34th, Greece 35th, Austria 36th, Poland 40th and Bulgaria 41st). Morocco moves into the lead pack (ninth place, just ahead of Ireland), thanks to a highly ambitious renewable energy policy. France comes 12th, slipping two places from last year as it does not place sufficient importance on renewable energies.
“Many EU countries ranked high this year, but others, like Poland and Bulgaria scored poorly because of their opposition to further steps nationally”, commented Wendel Trio, director of CAN Europe.
The organisations point out that “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”. They go on to add that “to do this, Europe must meet 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 (ETS) before the Paris Climate Summit (COP 21)”.
The United States takes 44th place and Canada 48th. “The Obama White House has recently sent strong signals to the world that it is more committed than ever to reducing carbon emissions”, said Alexander Ochs, Worldwatch Institute's Director of Climate and Energy.
The largest emitter in the world, China (45th place), can still take pride in improvements in the energy efficiency sector and massive investments in renewables.
Together, the 58 countries in the ranking are responsible for 90% of global CO2 emissions related to energy. Saudi Arabia brings up the rear of the league table (61st place). (AN)