Climate Protection Index 2022: The first places remain vacant

Which countries are on the right path to the agreed climate target? At the World Climate Conference today, environmental protection organizations are presenting the Climate Protection Index 2022. The result is sobering.

There is no winner. The first three places in the climate protection index remain vacant. In no country is there a trend that is sufficient to occupy these places, according to the report, which was published jointly by Germanwatch, the New Climate Institute and the Climate Action Network.

In 4th place: Denmark, followed by Sweden and Norway. The Scandinavian countries started to protect the climate early on, says Jan Burck, advisor for climate protection and energy at Germanwatch and calls emissions trading: “These were the first countries that really had a serious price for CO2.”

Sweden in particular has been a pioneer for a long time – with a CO2 price now well over 100 euros per ton. “These are values ​​that people in Germany still dream about. In Sweden, for example, this has resulted in the Swedes no longer having any emissions in the building sector. already shows what. “

Ranking list according to four categories

The experts from the three institutions compile data for the climate protection index and create rankings according to four categories. We look at the emission of climate-damaging gases per capita. Countries such as China, Poland, Russia, but also the USA and Saudi Arabia lag behind in this category.

Another category is the expansion of renewable energies. The Nordic countries are in the lead again – countries such as Australia, Canada, the USA, Algeria and Mexico are behind. In addition, the energy consumption is compared and the climate policy. In this category, Luxembourg, Denmark and Morocco are at the top. Large solar power plants have been built in Morocco.

The bottom lights are Brazil, Algeria and Australia. In Australia, a lot of coal is mined for energy production. The government has just set a climate target for 2050.

Germany rises to 13th place

Germany rose 6 places to 13th place this year, says Jan Burck from Germanwatch. “This is mainly due to the fact that Germany reduced its emissions relatively sharply in 2019 by shutting down some coal-fired power plants and that Germany increased its targets under pressure from the Federal Constitutional Court. These are two important indicators for us and that is why Germany is rising. “

The Netherlands, a country that actually implemented a discernible climate policy very late, is also a climber, says Burck. The government was forced by the courts to adopt an orderly climate policy. For a long time the country refused to build wind turbines. This has changed now.