The 21^st Conference of the Parties held in 2015 at Paris achieved ground-breaking progress in adopting an agreement for the reduction of global warming to ‘well below 2 degrees’. This agreement was anchored in law for the first time, requiring the signing parties to make their own unique contribution to the global goal to prevent the effects of climate change.

The Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) was designed and introduced to measure each country’s effectiveness in achieving this goal. Of the 56 countries, plus the EU, that have signed up to the agreement, the CCPI is measuring four key indicators linked to greenhouse gas emissions.

The four elements are:

• Climate Change Policy (makes up 20% of the total mark)
• Energy Usage (makes up 20% of the total mark)
• Renewable Energy (makes up 20% of the total mark)
• GHG Emissions (makes up 40 % of the total mark)

A team of 300 energy and climate experts assess each member’s progress. A mark of 100 would show remarkable commitment to the agreement, which to date has not been achieved and the top three rankings remain unoccupied in order to emphasise this.

Notably the United Kingdom was ranked in fifth position with a reduction in emissions mainly attributed to a shift from manufacturing into service based industries. The result of a weakened climate policy has resulted in cut backs in support of renewables, but the recent shift in promoting more offshore wind and phase-out of coal fired power could see us back on track.

The major disappointments are Germany (22), Ireland (49), Russia (53), America (56) and the worst performing Saudi Arabia (60).

To view the 2018 results and some interesting commentary against each member follow the link below.

https://germanwatch.org/en/download/20504.pdf

Go to page 11 to view the complete list of countries and their ranking positions.

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