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Climate change league table: Ireland falls 11 places to 44th out of 56 economically significant countries
Ireland slips 11 places in league table
From ireland.com
Saturday, 8th December, 2007
http://home.eircom.net/content/irelandc ... =Eircomnet
http://www.germanwatch.org/klima/ccpi.htm
IRELAND: Not even having Green Party Ministers in Government has saved Ireland from slipping 11 places towards the bottom of a league table showing how well - or badly - 56 economically significant countries are dealing with climate change.
The annual climate change performance index, compiled by two independent non- governmental organisations - Germanwatch and Climate Action Europe - puts Ireland in 44th place. Only Cyprus and Luxembourg fared worse among EU countries.
Among the top 10, Sweden again leads the field, followed by Germany, Iceland, Mexico, India, Hungary, Britain, Brazil, Switzerland and Argentina. The five worst performers, in descending order, are listed as Luxembourg, Canada, Australia, the US and, finally, Saudi Arabia.
The 56 countries on the list account for 90 per cent of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. However, their performance was rated not just on absolute emission figures, but also trends in emissions and an assessment of their climate change policies.
Jan Burck, who oversaw compilation of the index for Germanwatch, said there were "really no winners" because the average evaluation of climate policies in all 56 countries - including the top 10 - worked out at 3.9 on a scale of one (very good) to five (very poor).
EU states such as Germany, Britain and Hungary maintained or even improved their positions in the top 10, but Mr Burck said it was "particularly remarkable" that three major emerging economies - Mexico, India and Brazil - were among the best.
Matthias Duwe, director of Climate Action Europe, said this showed the potential for the formation in Bali of a "progressive coalition that can move things along at an international level" - although he added that all countries on the index "still have a lot to do".
Referring to Australia's about-turn on the Kyoto protocol on climate change, signed last week by its new prime minister, Kevin Rudd, Mr Duwe said if this was backed by "real change", the position of Australia on the index "could jump up 20 points".
Asked how he would rank countries based on their performance so far at the Bali conference, Germanwatch's Christoph Bals said China's ranking would be "a lot better than it appears on the index" because it was taking a more positive approach.
Pat Finnegan, of the Greenhouse Ireland Action Network, who carried out some "qualitative analysis" for the index, said Ireland's low ranking took into account the impact of the Green Party in Government
- before this week's Budget.
"Today's index really shows the scale of the challenge the Government is facing as it takes its first hesitant steps at attempt- ing to turn Irish performance on climate change around. Fifteen years of delayed action in Ireland will not go away overnight."
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Originally Posted by Rebel CNC