India among top performers in CCPI

NEW DELHI: In the latest global Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI), released on December 8, India attained the tenth rank. The CCPI has been developed by non-profit organisations including Germanwatch and New Climate Institute from Germany, in collaboration with the Climate Action Network (CAN). India remained in the top ten performers for the second consecutive year. Though India’s position has dropped from ninth to the tenth position, its journey towards climate protection has been very consistent, as is visible through the jump in rank from 31^st in 2014 and tenth in 2020.

The list has been prepared by assessing performances of countries of European Union and 57 other countries. The categories used for reference are greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, renewable energy, energy use, and climate policy. The countries assessed in the list are collectively responsible for about 90 per cent of the global GHG emissions. China, being the biggest current emitter of GHG, was ranked 33^rd in the list. The largest historical polluter, the United States of America, appeared at the bottom of the list.

Sweden achieved the fourth rank, but none of the countries assessed were able to secure a rank between first and third. According to the index, not a single country has performed well enough in all the four categories. The report also establishes that none of the countries are on the path to meet their Paris Agreement commitment which involved keeping global warming increase below 2 degree Celsius by the end of the century.

The CCPI covering the year 2020 reveals that only two countries from among the list of G20 nations, the United Kingdom and India, are among the high rankers in the index. In reference to the countries at the bottom of the index, which included the US, Saudi Arabia and Russia, Stephan Singer, Senior Advisor at global energy policies of CAN, said that they are among the highest carbon polluters and the highest energy consumers. He added that none of these countries have any useful federal climate policy to reduce carbon pollution.