As climate change represents one of the critical global issues that the world is currently experiencing, numerous nations are taking steps towards tackling this. To monitor their progress, two non-profits from Germany and the biggest climate network in the world devised the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) – an instrument that helps to analyze each country’s performance in terms of preserving our climate.
What is climate change?
Lasting alterations in temperature and changing weather patterns are referred to as climate change. Although there are several natural causes of climate change, human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels that result in heat-trapping gases like carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrous oxide (N2O), have contributed the most since the start of the 19th century – specifically, the industrial revolution.
Climate change causes
Based on information from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency there are several major reasons why the climate on our planet changes. These causes can be divided into natural and human-induced, those that people are responsible for.
Human-induced causes
- Above-the-limit emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases
- Irrational industrial projects (destroying landscapes for road construction, for example)
- Deforestation and agriculture
Natural causes
- Alterations in the planet’s orbit and rotation
- Shifts in solar activity
- Variations in the Earth’s reflectivity (oceans and forests are dark and thus collect more sunlight while snow and clouds are light and reflect sunlight)
- Volcanic activity
- Shifts in CO2 concentrations in the natural environment
See also: Global warming and climate change: definition and differences
What is the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI)?
The CCPI represents an independent monitoring instrument that tracks the performance of 60 nations in terms of climate protection and compares the data collected. This tool was developed by Germanwatch, (a non-profit, non-governmental organization), the New Climate Institute and CAN (the world’s biggest climate network).
Why did the authors analyze data from only 60 out of nearly 200 countries in the world? Because together, those nations that were monitored produce around 90% of all global emissions.
Climate change and countries’ efforts to tackle it
Based on data from the index, Northern European countries are at the forefront of climate preservation.
However, no country’s actions have been sufficient enough to earn a ‘very high’ overall grade, i.e., maintaining global warming within the 1.5°C limit. This is why the first three positions in the ranking remain empty.
- Denmark, Sweden, and Norway came 4th, 5thand 6th respectively. These nations achieved the best results due to their remarkable successes in renewable energy.
- The United Kingdom and Morocco are next on the list, coming 7th and 8th respectively.
- The Netherlands and Greece should be praised for being the fastest-growing countries in terms of climate change performance.
- Australia registered a very low performance in every CCPI category (being surpassed by Brazil and Algeria). Since 2014, the country has consistently ranked poorly in the CCPI.
- In 2021, the United States also showed weak results but in 2022 it has climbed six places to 55th.
- South Korea and Russia, along with Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia, also showed some of the poorest results in the overall list.
- In the EU, Belgium, Poland, Slovenia, and the Czech Republic are the nations that showed the worst results.
- China dropped to 38th place. Its two most serious flaws being high emissions and low energy performance.
- India maintains its 10th spot on the list, registering high results. The nation continues to profit from its low per capita GHG emissions.
Fig.1. Climate change performance index ranking 2022. Top 10 emitters
Source: NewClimate Institute
Top three countries achieving the best climate preservation
Denmark
In the 2022 CCPI, Denmark ranks fourth and takes the lead since no state was able to receive a ‘very high’ ranking. With regard to committing to the 2030 target, the country managed to show a 70% decrease in emissions compared to 1990 levels, having the goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2050.
Agriculture and transportation are two segments that Denmark still needs to work on. Experts from the CCPI see certain flaws in the regulations relating to electric vehicles and policies aimed at shifting away from biomass. Note that the country is largely reliant on the latter as a source of energy and local specialists believe that a phase-out of wood biomass is necessary.
Sweden
After slipping one position, Sweden now ranks fifth although still showing strong overall results. The country does well in all but one category. It is still unable to improve its low energy consumption performance.
Another issue is the country’s vast deforestation. This takes place due to the government’s aim to achieve climate neutrality not only by cutting fossil fuel usage but also by increasing the use of biomass. However, analysts believe Sweden will be able to achieve its ‘net-zero’ goal by 2030.
Norway
Renewable energy accounts for more than half of this country’s energy supply. Its national climate policy is notable for its high carbon pricing and EV subsidies. Besides being western Europe’s largest oil and gas producer, the country also plans to continue to offer subsidies for exploration and development in the future.
According to analysts, the Norwegian government has made little effort to join the measures to reduce fossil fuel production. They say that Norway should cut oil and gas output and focus on climate financing initiatives.
Fig.2. Overall results
Source: NewClimate Institute
Cities and their impact on climate change
Cities play a significant role in climate change. They use 78% of the global energy and emit over 60% of GHG. Despite this, they occupy less than 2% of the planet’s surface.
Because of the great concentration of people within a small area who rely on fossil fuels, metropolitan populations are particularly sensitive to the impacts of climate change. The situation is worsened by the lack of green spaces.
According to the UN’s prediction, by 2050, cities will house nearly 70% of the global population with nearly 90% of the increase in urban population taking place in Asia and Africa.
Final word
Tackling climate change is recognized to be one of the key goals of the international community with many nations being involved in this. However, based on the data from CCPI, not one country has managed to show significant results.
But the good news is that Scandinavian nations continue to show promising results and the Netherlands and Greece demonstrate that increasing the pace towards accomplishing goals in combating climate change is possible.
