Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary are among the lowest-performers in climate protection efforts according to the latest Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) monitoring report which evaluates the progress of countries in implementing policies that help achieve the Paris Agreement goals.
The analysis which was conducted by Germanwatch, New Climate Institute and Climate Action Network International (CAN) looks at 60 countries and the European Union that together account for over 90 per cent of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. It assesses their performance in four categories: GHG emissions, renewable energy, energy use and climate policy.
Although there are some positive developments in creating political space for climate action, “no country performs well enough in all CCPI index categories to achieve an overall very high rating. This says a great deal. Even if all countries were as committed as the current frontrunners, it would still not be enough to prevent dangerous climate change”, as stated on the CCPI website.
According to the report, the world energy supply still heavily depends on coal, oil, and gas.
“There are powerful actors in different countries blocking sustainable and just transformation and the current financial commitments are insufficient for supporting countries of the Global South”.
From the Central and Eastern European region, only Lithuania has made it on the high performers’ list. When broken down into single categories, however, other CEE countries feature in upper ratings as well.
For example, in GHG emissions, Romania, Slovakia and Estonia rank among medium performers. In the renewable energy category, Latvia, Croatia, Estonia and Bulgaria feature as high achievers. In climate policy rating, Latvia and Lithuania have made it to the leader’s list.
CCPI which is published annually since 2005 creates transparency in climate policy, makes it possible to compare climate protection efforts, and lets anyone interested see progress as well as setbacks. Its impact as a climate protection monitoring and communication tool also depend on whether and how the index is used by different actors.
CCPI is increasingly used by financial actors to rate sovereign bonds. Given the key role of the financial market in determining whether investments are made in high-emission or low-emission infrastructures and technology developments, the CCPI is an important tool to promote the reallocation of investments.