Australia was ranked 55 out of 60 countries in the Climate Change Performance Index published in December 2018 during COP24 UN Climate Conference in Katowice, Poland.
The index shows only a few countries have started to implement strategies to limit global warming well below 2 or even 1.5°C. The countries of Sweden and Morocco are leading the field.
While there is a continued growth and competitiveness of renewable energy, especially in countries that had low shares before, the CCPI shows a lack of political will of most governments to phase out fossil fuels with the necessary speed.
Jan Burck, co-author of the CCPI at Germanwatch, comments: "Based on techno-economic developments in the last years, delay in implementation of low-carbon solutions can hardly be justified. While the G20 summit has shown strong support of 19 countries to support the Paris Agreement, the political will of those Governments to set the right frameworks and incentives for its national implementation is not yet reflected in these words."
In the group of very low performers we find almost half of the G20 countries: Japan (49), Turkey (50), Russian Federation (52), Canada (54), Australia (55), Korea (57) and - at the bottom of the index - USA (59) and Saudi Arabia (60). The USA again lost several places due to its low to very low-rated performance in the GHG Emissions, Renewable Energy and Energy Use. The experts from the USA rated the climate policy of the Trump administration very low, but they highlight some positive signals because of climate action in several states and cities and because of the Democrats promise to push climate policy with their new majority in the House of Representatives.
Countries are assessed against Greenhouse Gas emissions (40%), Climate Policy (20%), Energy Use (20%) and Renewable Energy (20%). These categories are broken down further into sub-sections.
Here is the entry for Australia. You can download the Australian Scorcard.
Australia's overall ranking improved very slightly from 57 to 55
With an overall very low performance, Australia ranks 55th in this year's CCPI. The country continues to receive very low ratings in the categories GHG Emissions, Energy Use and Climate Policy. The country ranks at the bottom of low performers in the Renewable Energy category with national experts criticising the government for not putting forward any plans for renewable energy beyond 2020. Experts argue that national climate policy has continued to worsen – the government has no comprehensive emission reduction policy, no regulation of transport emissions and no plans to phase out coal. Experts observe that the government has become an increasingly regressive force in international negotiations, attempting to weaken climate finance obligations and dismissing the IPCC 1.5°C report.
Overall Ranking
Australia ranked 55 with a score of 31.27. The countries below us were: Chinese Taipei, Republic of Korea, Islamic Republic of Iran, United States, and Saudi Arabia.
The tables below show Australia's performance ranking in the categories and sub-categories
Greenhouse Gas Emissions
For Greenhouse gas emissions Australia ranked 49th out of 60, with a very low rating. GHG per Capita current trend (excl. LULUCF) and GHG 2030 target compared to a well-below-2°C pathway, were both rated as medium.
Renewables
For Renewable energy Australia ranked 49th out of 60, with a low rating. Share of renewable energy in energy use trend was rated as medium.
Energy Use
For Renewable energy Australia ranked 52nd out of 60, with a very low overall rating. On Energy Use per capita trend we were rated High.
Climate Policy
For Climate Policy Australia ranked 58th out of 60, with a very low overall rating, with very low for both national and international climate policy.
Sources:
- Germanwatch media release - 10 December 2018 - Climate Change Performance Index: Not enough countries prove political will to prevent dangerous climate change
- CCPI Full report (PDF) for Download
- CCPI Country Scorecard for Australia
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