In news
India remains in the top 10 for the second year in a row in the latest global Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI)
Who publishes it?
- Germanwatch(Non-Profit organization), the NewClimate Institute and the Climate Action Network publish the index annually.
About the index
- The index evaluates and compares the climate protection performance of 57 countries and the EU
- Published annually since 2005, the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) tracks countries’ efforts to combat climate change.
- As an independent monitoring tool it aims to enhance transparency in international climate politics and enables comparison of climate protection efforts and progress made by individual countries.
Key findings of the CCPI-2020
- As per CCPI, the biggest current emitter of greenhouse gases (GHG) China figures at 33rd rank while the largest historical polluter, the USA, appears at the bottom of the list.
- The Index is prepared by assessing performances of 57 countries and European Union (as a whole) in four categories –
- GHG emissions (40%)
- Renewable energy (20%)
- Energy use (20%) and
- Climate policy (20%)
- These 57 countries and the EU collectively are responsible for about 90% of global GHG emissions.
- The index states that globally none of the countries assessed for the annual CCPI report are, however, on the path to meet their Paris Agreement commitment of keeping global warming increase below 2 degree celsius by the end of the century and actually to make efforts to restrict it to 1.5 degree celsius rise.
- The report, covering CCPI, shows that overall, GHG emissions have increased slightly, but are actually falling in more than half of the countries (32) surveyed.
- The index of 2021, covering the year 2020, reveals that only two G20 countries – the UK and India – are among the high rankers while six others – the USA, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Australia, South Korea and Russia (52nd) – are at the bottom of the index.
- It’s the second time in a row that the USA is bringing up the rear, below Saudi Arabia.
- According to the senior advisor, global energy policies of Climate Action Network, the US, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Australia are among the highest carbon polluters and the highest energy consumers. None of them have any useful federal climate policy in place to reduce carbon pollution
About Germanwatch
- Germanwatch founded in 1991, is a non-profit, non-governmental organization based in Bonn, Germany.
- It seeks to influence public policy on trade, the environment, and relations between countries in the industrialized north and underdeveloped south.
- The organization collates a variety of economic and social data to formulate position papers, often in partnership with other NGOs.
- Particular areas of interest include trade in food and agricultural policy, climate change, and corporate accountability.