Australia still trails most developed countries in climate performance ranking

(The Guardian, 14 Nov 2022) Despite Labor’s increased emissions target, Australia has only improved four places to 55th out of 63 in the annual index.

Australia continues to trail other developed countries in addressing the climate crisis, in part due to the Albanese government’s support for new fossil fuel developments, according to an analysis released at the Cop27 UN conference in Egypt.

The climate change performance index, published by Germanwatch, the NewClimate Institute and the Climate Action Network with input from 450 climate and energy experts and campaigners, found Australia was still a “very low performing country”. It ranked 55th on a list of 63 countries and country groupings, up from 59th last year.

The authors welcome Australia’s increased 2030 emissions reduction target – a legislated 43% cut compared with 2005 levels, up from a 26% under the Morrison government – but said it was still relatively weak. They noted its plans to introduce measures to tackle industrial emissions, slow electric vehicle uptake and energy use but said many of these changes were at an early stage action, and there would be a lag before they would have an impact on emissions.

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The Guardian, 14 Nov 2022: Australia still trails most developed countries in climate performance ranking