It assesses how well each country is doing under the Paris Agreement`s goal of limiting warming to a maximum of 1.5 degrees Celsius and assigns a score in four categories: greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption, renewable energy and climate policy. With green recovery measures after the coronavirus crisis, the EU can become a model for climate protection by setting an ambitious climate target for 2030 in line with the 1.5°C limit and a good implementation and development of its Green Deal. However, it can also stumble severely if it pursues greenwashing instead of green recovery and implements inadequate targets and instruments in the European Green Deal. The G20 also shows a divided picture. The United Kingdom (5th), India (10th) and the EU perform well on the index. However, the vast majority of G20 countries are lagging behind in the rankings. The United States (61st), Saudi Arabia (60th), Canada (58th), Australia (54th), South Korea (53rd) and Russia (52nd) are all ranked «very low». Once again, the performance of the United States is catastrophic: the last year under President Trump is the second consecutive time that the United States has occupied the last place behind Saudi Arabia. In all four categories, with the exception of renewable energy («low»), the United States lands at the bottom of the table («very low») and is the only country, along with Australia and Algeria, that receives the worst rating of «very low» in national and international climate policy. President-elect Biden`s plans offer great opportunities to significantly improve this assessment, but only if campaign promises are actually kept.
Given the still uncertain majority in the Senate, it is unclear to what extent it will be implemented. Each of the world`s major economies, including all the countries that make up the G20, is failing to meet the commitments made in the historic Paris Agreement to avert a climate catastrophe, a devastating new analysis has emerged. The general scientific opinion is that any increase in global temperatures of more than 2 degrees Celsius would be catastrophic for the Earth, causing severe natural disasters, a melted Arctic and possible mass extinctions. When the entire planet is in danger, it takes the whole world to fight climate change. The ultimate goal of the agreement is to limit the increase in global warming this century to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Although the difference of 0.5 degrees may not seem like much, it would significantly affect low-lying nations and coral reefs. Even if all countries were as committed as the current pioneers, this would still not be enough to prevent dangerous climate change. It is crucial that all countries take urgent action to prevent catastrophic climate change. A report released Tuesday by Climate Action Tracker found that despite promises made at this month`s COP26 climate conference, the world will still warm 2.4 degrees above pre-industrial levels — a warming that would have devastating consequences, including more crop failures, extreme weather and rising sea levels.
The CAT closely monitors the progress of 32 countries with readily available climate data. The group noted that many countries claim that the agreement does not exist and are only taking a few steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Among the worst perpetrators are the United States, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and Saudi Arabia. In August, a landmark report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world`s leading authority on climate science, found that burning fossil fuels is changing the Earth`s climate in «unprecedented» ways and that rapid reductions in greenhouse gases are needed to prevent climate collapse. Countries with high rankings have no reason to sit back and relax. The leases «will make it even harder for America to meet its climate goals,» said Jennifer Rokala, executive director of the conservation group Center for Western Priorities. The climate crisis is an existential threat to life on Earth. To reduce the magnitude of the impact of the crisis, we must limit global warming to 1.5°C, as agreed in the Paris Agreement. Only decisive action will reduce the greenhouse gas emissions responsible for climate change. As an independent monitoring tool, the CICC plays a leading role in providing information on the implementation phase of the Paris Agreement. Since 2005, the CICC has been analysing countries` climate protection performance.
It creates transparency in climate policy, allows for a comparison of climate protection efforts and shows progress and setbacks. After a climate summit hosted by US President Joe Biden at the White House, there was a «good momentum» in May, according to Niklas Höhne, a researcher at the NewClimate Institute, a partner organization of the Climate Action Tracker analysis. «More and more people around the world are suffering from the increasingly severe and frequent effects of climate change, but government action continues to lag behind what is needed,» said Bill Hare, chief executive of Climate Analytics, another partner in the new study. And despite praise for their climate leadership in recent years, countries like Canada and China are doing so little to reduce emissions that the world could warm by more than 4 degrees Celsius if all countries followed their lead. In 2017, the methodology underlying the CICC was revised and adapted to the new climate policy framework of the 2015 Paris Agreement. The CICC has been expanded to include measuring a country`s progress towards achieving the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and the country`s 2030 targets. National performance is assessed on the basis of 14 indicators in the following four categories: But most importantly, none of these countries has so far achieved sufficient results to achieve the Paris climate goals and limit climate change in the necessary way. The annual Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI), released on Wednesday, tracks the climate performance of the world`s 60 largest polluting countries, as well as the European Union, which together account for 92% of all global emissions. Even countries with strong climate goals are not on track to meet them, while international financing for the poorest countries to address the climate crisis is neglected. If current practices continue, the world will be on track to a warming of nearly 3°C.
By February 2020, all UNFCCC members had signed the agreement and 189 had become parties to the agreement. The signatories, who have not become parties, are: «High-ranking countries also have no reason to let go,» they continue. Even greater efforts and actions by governments are needed to put the world on the right track to keep global warming well below a 2-degree increase. Even better, 1.5 degrees. India, meanwhile, received an «average» score for the use of renewable energy, but scored high on its climate policy and strong goals. It was also congratulated for being on track to meet its «Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) target of 40% of non-fossil installed electricity capacity by 2030». Sweden (4th place, «high» category) remains the international leader in climate protection for the fourth consecutive year. .
