Context: Recently, India has ranked 7th in a report Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) 2024, published on the sidelines of the ongoing COP28 at Dubai.

• The first three ranks in the ‘very high’ performance category remained vacant.

About the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI)

• An Annual Report: The CCPI, an annual report that has been prepared by Germanwatch, the New Climate Institute and the Climate Action Network since 2005 with the involvement of nearly 450 climate and energy experts.

• Transparency Enabler: The CCPI is an instrument to enable transparency in national and international climate politics. 

• Framework Used: The CCPI uses a standardized framework to compare the climate performance of 63 countries and the EU, which together account for over 90% of global greenhouse gas emissions. 

Assessment

• The CCPI assesses each country’s performance in four categories: 

• Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions (40%), Renewable Energy(20%), Energy Use(20%), Climate Policy (20%).

• On the Basis of Actions: The analysis also reports on the extent to which each country is taking actions in the areas of emissions, renewable energy and energy use in order to achieve the climate goals set in Paris.

Concerns

• No Significant Improvement: There has hardly been any improvement in global performance to the duration and progress on reducing emissions. 

• An analysis showed that of 64 countries assessed, 37 countries fluctuated compared to their performance last year. The positions of five countries remained unchanged.  

• Higher GHGs Emissions: Despite the urgent need to decarbonise all sectors, GHGs have increased in 2022 and atmospheric CO2 is now 50% higher than pre-industrial levels.

Top Positions Holder

Performance of European Union

• Overall, the EU rises three spots, to 16th, and now has a high overall ranking.

• 14 EU countries are among the high and medium performers, with Denmark (4th) and Estonia (5th) leading the overall ranking.

Performance of G20 nations

• India (7th), Germany (14th) and the EU (16th) are only 3 G20 countries/regions are among the high performers in CCPI 2024.

• 15 G20 countries receive an overall low or very low rating.

• Canada, Russia, the Republic of Korea, and Saudi Arabia are still the G20’s worst-performing countries.

Performance by Other Countries

• Poor Performance by Most Developed Countries: Countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy and others performed poorly compared to last year. 

• Italy slipped 15 positions in ranking, United Kingdom and France nine positions, Japan eight positions and the United States slipped back five positions. 

• Germany and the European Union improved marginally.  

Worst Performers

• Saudi Arabia is at the bottom (67th) in the performance list, Islamic Republic of Iran occupied the 66th position while the host country United Arab Emirates occupied the 65th position.

India’s Performance

• Improvement in Ranking: India has been ranked seventh in climate performance during 2022, which showed an improvement of one spot over last year’s performance (ranked eighth).

• Effective Ranking: India is effectively at fourth position, as the first three ranks in the ‘very high’ performance category remained vacant.

• Achieved Score: 70.25 Percent

• Last year, India scored 67.35 Percent.

On Population and Policy

• While India is the world’s most populous country, it has relatively low per capita emissions. 

• India’s high population automatically reduces its per capita energy use.

Challenges for India

• High Reliance on Use of Coal: India is trying to meet its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), with clear long-term policies in place that focus on promoting renewable energy, but India’s growing energy needs are still being met by its heavy reliance on coal, along with oil and gas.”

• Cause of Pollution: The dependence on coal, oil and gas is a major source of GHG emissions and causes severe air pollution, especially in the cities.

• India is among the most air-polluted countries of the world.

• India’s Contribution: As per India’s Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, “India is not only focused on progress at home, but also on steering global commitments to build a sustainable world for the present and generations to come.”

Performance of BASIC Group

BASIC Countries: It is an International Grouping formed by four newly industrialized countries Brazil, South Africa, India and China. 

• These nations signed an agreement on 28th November 2009, which resulted in its formation.

• Besides India, other members of the group have also done reasonably well in the assessment.

• China: 51st- Retained the same position 

• Brazil: 23rd- Improved 15 positions 

• South Africa: 45th- Slipped one position