Climate Change Performance Index

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

The latest Climate Change Performance Index by Germanwatch, an independent development organisation, has put India eighth amongst a group of 59 countries and the European Union in terms of climate action, ahead of most developed countries.

• The UK has been ranked 11, Germany 16, while China and the United States are placed at 51st and 52nd ranks respectively. 
• Denmark and Sweden have been assessed to be the top performers this year as well.

Climate Change Performance Index:

• Climate Change Performance Index(CCPI) is an independent monitoring tool for tracking the climate protection performance of 60 countries and the EU, covering 92% of the Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions
• Aim: To enhance transparency in international climate politics and enable comparison of climate protection efforts and progress made by individual countries.

Categories: 

CCPI assesses each country’s performance in four categories: 

• GHG Emissions (40% of the overall ranking), 
• Renewable Energy (20%), 
• Energy Use (20%) and 
• Climate Policy (20%).

India’s Performance

• India earns a high rating in the GHG Emissions and Energy Use categories, with a medium for Climate Policy and Renewable Energy.

• The country is on track to meet its 2030 emissions targets (compatible with a well-below 2 degree Celsius scenario). 

• However, the renewable energy pathway is not on track for the 2030 target

• India earns a high rating in the GHG Emissions and Energy Use categories, with a medium for Climate Policy and Renewable Energy.
• The country is on track to meet its 2030 emissions targets (compatible with a well-below 2-degree Celsius scenario). However, the renewable energy pathway is not on track for the 2030 target.
• India’s upgraded NDC (nationally determined contributions)
• Net zero target for 2070.
• At least 50 per cent of its electricity generation in 2030 from renewable energy sources (up from 40 per cent earlier)
• Cuts in emissions intensity, 45 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030, instead of the 33-35 per cent which was the earlier target.
• India’s climate actions were still not consistent with the 1.5-degree Celsius goal since India has plans to increase its oil and gas production by over 5 per cent by 2030.