India jumps 2 spots to ranks 8th on Climate Change Performance Index

Representative image (Source: Reuters)

India jumped two spots to rank eighth and was the best among the G20 countries on the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI), the power ministry said in a statement on November 22.

Published annually since 2005, the index is an independent monitoring tool for tracking the climate protection performance of 59 countries and the EU. The latest report was released during the climate change conference (COP27), which concluded in Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh on November 20.

“India jumps two spots higher, and is now ranked eight as per the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI, 2023) published by German Watch, New Climate Institute and Climate Action Network International based in Germany,” the ministry said.

The latest CCPI report puts Denmark, Sweden, Chile and Morocco above India at the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh places, respectively.

The first, second and third ranks were not awarded. In effect, India ranks the best among all large economies, the statement said.

"The aggressive policies of India towards rapid deployment of renewables and robust framework for energy-efficiency programs have shown considerable impact. As per the CCPI report, India is on track to meet its 2030 emissions targets (compatible with a well-below-2°C scenario),” the government said in its statement.

The CCPI aims to enhance transparency in international climate politics and enables comparison of climate protection efforts and progress made by individual countries.

The climate protection performance of the 59 countries, which together account for 92 percent of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, is assessed against four benchmarks: GHG emissions (40 percent of the overall score), renewable energy, energy use and climate policy, which each account for 20 percent of the score.

As per the CCPI report, India earned a high rating in the GHG emissions and energy use categories, while a medium for climate policy and renewable energy.

India is the only G-20 country to figure among the top 10. This comes ahead of India assuming the G-20 presidency on December 1.

It would be an opportune time to show the world India’s climate mitigation policies such as the deployment of renewable sources of energy and other energy-transition programmes, the power ministry said.

Union power minister RK Singh said India’s CCPI ranking was a testimony to the leadership shown by Prime Minister Narendra Modi towards addressing the problem of climate change despite the coronavirus pandemic and tough economic times.

“The top five rank globally reflects that India is implementing energy transition programmes such as renewable capacity installation at a much faster rate than anywhere in the world,” he said.

The minister said programmes such as UJALA, which promotes the use of energy-efficient LED lights, and Standards and Labelling Programme, under which labels display the performance of high-energy using equipment, had continued significantly to India’s improved ranking.