India among top ten performers on Climate Change Index
India is taking substantial steps to mitigate the impact of climate change, revealed the latest global Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI). As per the report released on Monday in Germany, India is among the top ten performers, for the second time in a row. However, as compared to 2019, India slipped one position, taking the tenth rank on the list this year. Here's more.
What is CCPI?
Formed by not-for-profit organizations like Germanwatch and NewClimate Institute along with the Climate Action Network (CAN), CCPI is used to understand transparency in efforts against climate change and judge the progress made by countries.
57 countries and EU were judged
To prepare the list, 57 countries and the European Union (as a whole) were judged on the basis of four categories, namely, greenhouse gas (GHG) emission, renewable energy, energy use, and climate policy. Each of the categories respectively carries 40%, 20%, 20%, and 20% weightage. The USA took the last position and China took 33rd place on the list.
The performance of US was judged "disastrous"
About the US, the report said it is the second time in a row that the country fared poorly than Saudi Arabia. In all categories, barring renewable energy, the US' performance was judged as "very low." "The plans of president-elect Joe Biden present great opportunities for this assessment to improve significantly, but only if promises from the election campaign are actually delivered," it added.
EU's position improved drastically, took the 16th place
EU's place improved from 22nd in 2019 to 16th this year, largely because of its better-rated climate policy. The report said, "The EU can become a role model in climate protection with green recovery measures after the coronavirus crisis, by setting an ambitious climate target for 2030 in line with the 1.5°C-limit and a good implementation and further development of its Green Deal."
Sweden was hailed for its fight against climate change
Among the G20 nations, only the UK (fifth position), India, and the EU performed well. Other G20 countries like Saudi Arabia, Canada, Australia, South Korea, and Russia, took the 60th, 58th, 54th, 53rd, and 52nd positions respectively. Sweden was named as "international frontrunner in climate protection" for the fourth consecutive year. But the report said Sweden is "no climate role model."
Top three positions remained vacant
It is important to highlight that none of the countries are on the path to meet the targets set by the Paris Climate Change Agreement. The deal underlines that global warming increase should remain below 2 degree Celsius by the end of the current century. Not a single nation performed well on all four categories, which meant that the top three positions remained vacant.
Some of the most developed countries are largest polluters
On the findings, Stephan Singer, Senior Advisor, Global Energy Policies of Climate Action Network, said countries like the US, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Australia, were among the highest carbon polluters and energy consumers. "That shows the influential power of the fossil fuel industries in these countries," he said, pointing out that countries like Portugal, Morocco, and Chile performed way better.
