Developed by Germanwatch, NewClimate Institute and CAN, the CCPI analyses and compares climate change mitigation efforts across 60 countries (plus EU as a whole) with the highest emissions. Together these countries account for 90 percent of global emissions. The index aims to enhance transparency in international climate politics and enable comparison of mitigation efforts and progress made by individual countries.

Race Towards Climate Neutrality Is Underway: CCPI’s top countries lead the way

• Scandinavian countries, together with the United Kingdom and Morocco, lead the ‘race to zero’
• Australia, South Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Kazakhstan are among the worst performers
• Netherlands and Greece are the biggest climbers since last year, while Latvia, Croatia, Belarus and Algeria have fallen down the rankings

Scandinavian countries lead the way in climate protection, together with Morocco and the United Kingdom. Leaders Denmark, Sweden, and Norway occupy ranks four through six in the new Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) 2022. Places one to three again remain vacant because no country’s measures thus far have been sufficient to achieve an overall ‘very high’ rating – none are following a path necessary to keep global warming within the 1.5°C limit.

Scandinavian countries achieved the best results mainly thanks to their outstanding efforts in renewable energy. Notably, Norway stands out as the only country to be awarded a ‘very high’ rating in this category. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the Russian Federation are the worst-performing countries in renewable energy, with a ‘very low’ rating. The United Kingdom and Morocco, ranked 7th and 8th overall, were among the leaders in all categories. The UK also performs well in greenhouse gas emissions metrics.

In the overall ranking, Australia, Kazakhstan, Russia, Saudi Arabia and South Korea are among the worst performers. Australia receives ‘very low’ ratings in every CCPI category and slips four places in the overall ranking. The Netherlands and Greece are the biggest climbers, while Croatia, Belarus and Algeria fall in most of the category rankings. From the G20 countries, only the EU, along with the UK and India, rank among the high performers, while six G20 countries are very low performers. Hungary and Slovenia are this year’s worst-performing EU countries.

In the CCPI’s Climate Policy category, many ambitious states clearly have resolutely embarked on their paths to climate neutrality, including the Scandinavian states, Morocco, the Netherlands, Portugal, and France. Germany and the EU follow at some distance in the upper mid-levels. However, five EU states are also ranked poorly. The worst ranking EU countries are: Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the Czech Republic. At the bottom of the table are the biggest laggards: Australia – with the worst possible score – is still ranked worse than Brazil and Algeria.

The world’s largest emitter, China, slips four places to 37th, with an overall ‘low’ rating. Its biggest problem areas are high emissions and very poor energy efficiency. In both areas, the 2030 targets are also far from a Paris Agreement-compatible pathway. In contrast, China’s trend in renewable energy is very good, even before Germany (23rd). The first year of the Biden Administration has a positive impact on the United States’ performance. In last year’s CCPI, the US was at the bottom, but this year it climbs six ranks to 55th, though remaining in the ‘very low’ ranks.

India retains its 10th place in the ranking and is a high performer except for its rank in the renewable energy category, where it is rated ‘medium’. The country still benefits from its relatively low per capita emissions. However, in the mid-term trend, these are quickly rising and only the ambitious implementation of strong climate targets can prevent India from falling in the CCPI ranking. PM Modi’s announcements on increased 2030 targets sound promising but are not yet included in the ranking.  
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