Climate protection index

The Climate Protection Index (KSI) is a program developed by the German environmental and development organization Germanwatch e. V. developed an instrument that aims to bring more transparency to international climate policy . Using uniform criteria, the KSI currently compares and evaluates the climate protection performance of 57 countries and the EU (as of KSI 2020), which together are responsible for more than 90 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions . The Climate Protection Index was first published in 2005 and has been updated annually since then and presented at the UN climate summit . It is published by Germanwatch in cooperation with the NewClimate Institute and the Climate Action Network International and financially supported by the Barthel Foundation . The most important results are available in German, English, French and Spanish.

methodology

In 2017 the methodology of the KSI was revised and adapted to the new climate policy framework of the Paris Agreement of 2015. The KSI was expanded to include the nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and the national targets up to 2030 in the assessment.

The climate protection performance is measured on the basis of 14 indicators in the following four categories:

1. Greenhouse gas emissions (weighting 40%)
2. Renewable energy (weighting 20%)
3. Energy consumption (weighting 20%)
4. Climate policy (weighting 20%)

The three categories "greenhouse gas emissions", "renewable energy" and "energy consumption" are each defined by four equally weighted indicators: 1) current status 2) latest developments (trend over the last five years), 3) 2 ° C compatibility of current performance and 4) 2 ° C compatibility of the objectives until 2030. These twelve indicators are supplemented by two further indicators for the “climate policy” category, which measure the performance of the respective country with regard to the national climate policy framework and its implementation as well as the performance in international climate diplomacy . The data for the “climate policy” category is collected annually in a comprehensive study. They are based on the assessment of around 350 experts from non-governmental organizations , universities and think tanks who work in the areas of climate and energy in the countries assessed. In a questionnaire, they give an assessment of the most important measures taken by the government of the respective country. The results are rated as very good , good , moderate , bad or very bad .

Results

None of the countries assessed in the KSI received the grade very good for their performance in climate protection, as no country has done enough to comply with the limit of well below 2 degrees global warming . Therefore, no country achieved one of the top three places in the final ranking. Sweden leads the current index for 2020 , followed by Denmark and Morocco . The last three places are occupied by the USA , Saudi Arabia and Taiwan .

The authors also justify their judgment in writing. For example, they write about the best-placed country, Sweden, that it levies the world's highest CO ₂ tax , that it wants to cover 100% of its energy needs from renewable energies by 2040 and that it wants to be climate-neutral by 2045. Sweden is one of the largest contributors to the Green Climate Fund and one of the most determined supporters of an ambitious EU climate policy.

Denmark was able to move up 24 places compared to the previous year because of its new climate law in the climate protection policy category. This is to be adopted in February 2020 and provides for a 70% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to 1990 by 2030, which should also be binding for future governments. The proposed coal phase- out in 2030 comes just five years after the UK's .

The North African Morocco is among the top 10 in the categories of greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption and climate policy, also it as part of a coalition of most of the climate crisis affected countries sets ambitious targets for expanding renewable energies. Morocco's emission reduction targets by 2030 and 2050 are no less ambitious; In addition, the country plays a leading role in international climate negotiations and advocates for the least developed countries (LDCs).

Country	2020: rank	2020: points	2019: rank	2019: points	2018: rank	2018: points	2017: rank	2017: points	2016: rank	2016: points	2015: rank	2015: points
Sweden	4th	75.77	4th	76.28	4th	74.32	5	66.15	6th	69.91	5	71.44
Morocco	6th	70.63	5	70.48	6th	68.22	8th	63.28	10	63.76	9	65.73
Lithuania	8th	66.22	6th	70.47	5	69.2	19th	59.75	20th	58.65	21st	60.07
Latvia	15th	60.75	7th	68.31	10	63.02	15th	61.20	16	61.38	33	56.65
United Kingdom	7th	69.80	8th	65.92	8th	66.79	6th	66.10	5	70.13	6th	70.79
Switzerland	16	60.61	9	65.42	12	61.20	14th	61.66	14th	62.09	11	65.05
Malta	14th	60.76	10	65.06	11	61.87	10	62.51	15th	61.82	20th	60.84
India	9	66.02	11	62.93	14th	60.02	20th	59.08	25th	58.19	31	56.97
Norway	12	61.14	12	62.80	7th	67.99	38	52.90	36	54.65	27	57.88
Finland	10	63.25	13	62.61	9	66.55	31	56.28	23	58.47	32	56.76
Croatia	20th	56.97	14th	62.39	13	61.19	17th	60.66	21st	58.43	34	56.35
Denmark	5	71.14	15th	61.96	17th	59.49	13	61.87	4th	71.19	4th	77.76
European Union (28)	22nd	55.82	16	60.65	21st	56.89
Portugal	25th	54.10	17th	60.54	18th	59.16	11	62.47	19th	59.52	7th	67.26
Ukraine	17 *)	60.60	18 *)	60.09	20th	57.49	45	50.88	46	49.81	30th	57.1
Luxembourg	13	60.91	19th	59.92	25th	55.54	9	62.86	13	62.47	29	57.25
Romania	24	54.85	20th	59.42	26th	55.32	18th	60.33	18th	60.39	25th	59.02
France	18th	57.90	21st	59.30	15th	59.80	4th	66.17	8th	65.97	12	64.11
Brazil	21st	55.82	22nd	59.29	19th	57.86	40	52.46	43	51.90	49	48.51
Italy	26th	53.92	23	58.69	16	59.65	16	60.72	11	62.98	17th	61.75
Egypt	19th	57.53	24	57.49	28	54.02	23	58.75	30th	56.96	24	59.19
Mexico	32	47.01	25th	56.82	27	54.77	28	57.02	28	57.04	18th	61.3
Slovakia	27	52.69	26th	56.61	24	56.04	26th	57.69	26th	57.83	15th	62.5
Germany	23	55.78	27	55.61	22nd	56.58	29	56.58	22nd	58.39	22nd	59.6
Netherlands	29	50.89	28	54.11	34	49.49	27	57.10	35	54.84	42	53.27
Belarus	40	44.18	29	53.31	23	56.38	49	46.86	44	51.18	38	54.54
Greece	28	52.59	30th	50.86	39	47.86	25th	58.29	33	55.06	35	55.89
Belgium	35	45.73	31	50.63	32	49.60	12	62.08	7th	68.73	16	61.89
Czech Republic	43	42.93	32	49.73	43	45.13	24	58.52	29	57.03	26th	57.99
People's Republic of China	30th	48.16	33	49.60	41	45.84	48	47.49	47	48.60	45	51.77
Argentina	42	43.77	34	49.01	46	41.21	36	53.15	48	48.34	48	49.61
Spain	34	46.03	35	48.97	38	48.19	33	56.14	41	52.63	28	57.34
Austria	38	44.74	36	48.78	35	49.49	41	52.00	45	50.69	36	55.39
Thailand	33	46.76	37	48.71	36	49.07	42	51.91	49	48.16	47	50.61
Indonesia	39	44.65	38	48.68	37	48.94	22nd	58.86	24	58.21	23	59.57
South Africa	36	45.67	39	48.25	48	40.61	32	56.17	38	53.76	37	54.63
Iceland							39	52.55	27	57.25	13	63.07
Bulgaria	49	40.12	40	48.11	42	45.35	37	53.06	37	53.85	41	54.05
Poland	50	39.98	41	47.59	40	46.53	35	53.68	32	56.09	40	54.36
Hungary	47	41.17	42	46.79	44	44.00	34	55.05	17th	60.76	14th	62.82
Slovenia	44	41.91	43	44.90	31	50.54	30th	56.55	31	56.87	19th	60.99
New Zealand	37	45.67	44	44.61	33	49.57	46	50.48	42	52.41	43	52.56
Estonia	31	48.05	45	44.37	30th	52.02	50	46.04	51	47.24	46	51.58
Cyprus	45	41.66	46	44.34	29	52.29	7th	64.28	9	65.12	8th	66.99
Algeria	46	41.45	47	42.10	45	43.61	47	48.46	40	53.30	39	54.46
Ireland	41	44.04	48	40.84	49	38.74	21st	59.02	12	62.65	10	65.15
Japan	51	39.03	49	40.63	50	35.76	60	35.93	58	37.23	53	45.07
Turkey	48	40.67	50	40.22	47	41.02	51	45.54	50	47.25	51	46.95
Malaysia	53	34.21	51	38.08	52	32.61	44	50.96	39	53.49	52	46.84
Russia	52	37.85	52	37.59	53	29.85	53	44.30	53	44.34	56	43.39
Kazakhstan	54	33.39	53	36.47	55	28.17	59	36.87	60	32.97	59	37.72
Canada	55	31.01	54	34.26	51	33.98	55	43.06	56	38.74	58	38.81
Singapore							54	43.97	55	42.81	50	47.27
Australia	56	30.75	55	31.27	57	25.03	57	40.66	59	36.56	60	35.57
Taiwan	59	23.33	56	28.80	54	29.43	52	44.76	52	45.45	54	45.03
South Korea	58	26.75	57	28.53	58	25.01	58	38.11	57	37.64	55	44.15
Iran	57	28.41	58	23.94	59	23.05	56	43.05	54	43.33	57	40.99
United States	61	18.6	59	18.82	56	25.86	43	51.04	34	54.91	44	52.33
Saudi Arabia	60	22.03	60	8.82	60	11.20	61	25.45	61	21.08	61	24.19
Chile	11	62.88

^*)Ukraine's position in the climate protection index of the year is largely determined by the war in Donbass .

Development tendencies

The KSI 2020 shows contrary developments: The meager performance of Australia, Saudi Arabia and particularly the USA in emissions, climate protection policy and renewable energies are worrying. Due to the massive influence of the coal and oil lobby on these governments, there are no signs of serious climate policy. On the other hand, the demand for coal is falling , while the triumph of renewable energies continues. Viewed over several years, greenhouse gas emissions are falling in 31 of the 57 surveyed countries, but they are still increasing worldwide. Much depends on the US elections and developments in China.

The EU has fallen a few places from last year, but could catch up again if it raises its emissions reduction targets to 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 and develops a long-term strategy for the net zero target by 2050. If the necessary climate finance and compensation payments from the rich countries to the poorer countries were included, some of the European countries would find themselves significantly lower in the top ranks.

Of the G20 countries, only Great Britain and India were rated as good , eight others performed very poorly .

Web links

• Climate Protection Index 2020 - the most important results (German version)
• Climate Change Performance Index 2020 (English version)
• l'Indice de Performance Climatique 2020 - Principaux résultats (version française)
• El Indice de Desempeño frente al Cambio Climático 2020 - principales resultados (version española)
• Background and Methodology (English version only)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Jan Burck, Ursula Hagen, Niklas Höhne , Leonardo Nascimento, Christoph Bals : The most important results 2020. Germanwatch eV, December 10, 2019, accessed on January 1, 2020 . 
2. ↑ Methodology. In: climate-change-performance-index.org. Retrieved January 1, 2020 . 
3. ↑ Reinhard Wolff: This is how the climate law works. In: taz.de. December 8, 2019, accessed January 2, 2020 . 
4. ↑ Climate protection index sees chance of turning point. In: germanwatch.org. December 10, 2019, accessed January 6, 2020 . 
5. ↑ CCPI 2020: International Press Release. In: climate-change-performance-index.org. December 10, 2019, accessed January 6, 2020 .