These countries are the best and the worst at battling climate change

The 2023 Climate Change Performance Index is out. The Climate Action Network, Green Watch, and the New Climate Institute created the document. The results are not that different from 2022's, showing how little the world is moving towards climate-friendly policies.

The index compares the countries' efforts with the most significant CO2 emissions to reach the climate targets of Paris 2015. See for yourself if your country is among the top or bottom performers against climate change!

For the ranking, the three NGOs compared greenhouse gas emissions, renewable energies, energy consumption, and political decisions for future policies of the respective countries. Their conclusions are sobering, and some of them are surprising.

The first three places on the list remain empty! The ranking authors give this frightening reason for the three open spots: "No country is actually on a 1.5-degree path yet."

The G-20 countries are the most significant concerns for the ranking experts. The G-20 only has three countries on the very high tier, which is troubling because, as the document explains, the group has a "particular responsibility in climate mitigation, as it emits more than 75% of the world's greenhouse gas."

The small country made it to the victorious 4th place again, just like it did in 2022.

In 2022 experts said Scandinavian countries performed well in the ranking because they started early with climate protection measures. Sweden, for example, has a relatively high energy consumption but is decarbonized, and it kept 5th place in 2023. However, Norway lost four positions and fell from 6th to 10th place.

Chile climbed up two positions since last year, but the authors of the Index said per capita energy consumption leaves something to be desired. The country also needs to improve its Climate Policy.

Morocco escalated two positions last year. The African country scores points with its construction of large solar power plants. Still, the score is reduced because it cannot export that energy and needs more ambitious 2030 targets.

The country benefits from its relatively low per capita emissions. It rose two positions since last year. According to the experts, the government is on track to meet its 2030 emissions targets: keeping temperature rise below 3.6°F.

Pictured: a cyclist in the smog of New Delhi.

The UK lost four positions in one year. The country earns a medium in Renewable Energy because experts are concerned that there has
been little follow-up regarding the pledge to stop using carbon energy in 2024.

In 2022, the Philippian government did not strike the reporters of the Climate Change Performance Index as being overly ambitious in its targets. That changed dramatically in one year, as the country rose 11 positions to 12th place thanks to people like this man in Manila.

The EU climbed three positions in 2023. Last year's report claimed Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the Czech Republic do particularly severely. But there is hope because the Eastern European countries, heavily dependent on coal, announced at COP 26 that they would phase out this energy source within the next 15 years.

Egypt has risen one position since last year, from 21st to 20th place in 2023. "The experts welcome green energy and green hydrogen projects that are ready to receive finance," the report said.

New Zealand dropped seven spots in 2021 but recovered two in 2022 to be in 33rd place. It is now considered one of the 'low-performing countries.' The report said it does poorly on Energy Use, and per capita emissions are too high. NZ's Climate Policy also needs to improve.

Ireland rose nine positions in a year, going from a 'very-low performing' country to a 'low performing' country. It is still performing very poorly in most categories.

In Brazil, the political decisions were rated as 'very bad' last year. It fell from 18th to 33rd in 2022 and five positions down in 2023 to 38th place. The report said institutions that play a significant role in environmental policy suffered attacks and funding cuts from Bolsonaro's government.

In the picture: Protests for the preservation of the Amazon.

Experts criticize the country's continuous reliance on coal and the government's
fossil fuel subsidies and support. According to the report, South Africa is among the nine countries responsible for 90% of global coal production.

In the 2021-2022 ranking, the Asian giant was 38th. This year it fell 13 spots to 51st because its "long-term climate policies are not concrete enough," the report said. Still, it performs better than the US.

From 61st place in 2021, the world's second-largest emitter (after China) moved to 55th place in 2022 and up to 52nd in 2023. It is right ahead of Russia. One reason for this is undoubtedly the first half term under Democratic president Joe Biden. The report said the US receives very low Emissions, Renewable Energy, and Energy Use scores but medium on Policy.

Far back in the index is Australia, 55th, and Canada, 58th. Both countries rose four and three positions, respectively. In the case of Australia, massive coal mining (pictured) for energy generation is a significant negative factor. Canada also does very poorly in the renewable energy and emissions categories.

The ranking claims "the COVID-19 recovery has largely been a missed opportunity for climate progress," and the general state of the climate is concerning. The UN's 2023 report on Climate Change shows the same results: we need to cut emissions in half by 2030 to guarantee a liveable future.