Which countries are fighting climate change best?
This is the question that the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) 2023 attempts to answer, by measuring the efforts of a group of the most important climate influencers.
The results of the index showed Morocco's distinction by ranking seventh in the global ranking in combating climate change, while the performance of Egypt, Algeria and Saudi Arabia was mixed due to the continued dependence of these countries on fossil fuels.
According to the report published on the results of the index, Denmark was the best performer in the field of mitigating climate change, but its efforts are still not enough to achieve the goal of reducing emissions by 50% by 2025 compared to 1990 levels, and thus not exceeding an increase of 1.5 degrees Celsius in global warming. .
Denmark is the best performer in the absence of countries with very good climate performance (the island)
What is the climate change performance indicator?
It is an annual index created by the German NGO Network "Germanwatch" and the "NewClimate" Institute in 2005, and it monitors the environmental performance of 59 countries in addition to the European Union countries that are responsible for 92% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
The index analyzes the actions of each country in 4 areas: climate policy, renewable energies, energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, and then compares the efforts of these countries and the progress they are making in this field.
In the area of climate policy, the index assesses countries' progress in implementing policies that work to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement.
And the latest edition of the study - which coincided with the recent World Climate Summit in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, "COP 27" - warns that no country is on the right track to limit global warming on Earth to less than 1.5 degrees Celsius since the beginning of the industrial age, as it warns. The energy crisis is rooted in continued reliance on fossil fuels.
Therefore, the first three places in the index - which correspond to countries with "very good" climate performance - have been left empty since 2008, and Denmark ranked fourth, followed by Sweden, Chile and Morocco, respectively.
Morocco is seventh globally in the Climate Change Performance Index (Getty Images)
Good performance for Morocco and average for Egypt
Morocco, one of the four Arab countries included in the index, rose in this year's ranking to seventh place, up one notch from last year's ranking, and consolidating its place among the top 10 high-performing countries in efforts to combat climate change.
As in the past two years, Morocco scored highly in three of the four areas measured by the index, namely greenhouse gas emissions, energy use and climate policy.
According to the report, Morocco will continue to improve its indicators if it maintains the positive development in the field of renewable energy, especially by decentralizing the production of renewable energy and encouraging citizens to produce it themselves.
For its part, Egypt improved its ranking this year by one point compared to last year, to occupy the 20th place in the list of countries included in the index, with an average rating in general.
Egypt's assessment was uneven in the four main areas, and its performance was high in combating greenhouse gas emissions and energy use, and average in climate policy, but very low in the field of renewable energy.
Although Egypt plans to expand fossil gas production, experts welcome the emerging partnership between the European Union and Cairo in the fields of renewable energy, green hydrogen and energy efficiency, stressing that the demands of less economically developed countries can be met without threatening the Paris Agreement.
Despite Saudi Arabia's efforts to reduce it, per capita emissions are still the highest among the G20 (Getty Images)
Low performance for Algeria and Saudi Arabia
Algeria made an important leap this year to occupy 48th place, up 6 places compared to last year, but that was not enough for it to get out of the list of low-performing countries in general.
While Algeria received an average rating in the two categories of greenhouse gas emissions and energy use, it was rated very low in renewable energy and climate policy.
For its part, Saudi Arabia advanced one place compared to last year, to occupy 62nd place in the list of countries included in the index.
Saudi Arabia, an oil-producing country, received very low ratings in the categories of energy use and climate policy, and low in renewable energy and greenhouse gas emissions.
Although it seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the share of the Saudi citizen is still the highest among the residents of the G20 countries, the report says.
The largest countries responsible for global warming were classified by the index as having very low performance in combating climate change (Getty Images)
The largest polluters are at the bottom of the ranking
Globally, China, the United States and Russia, the largest emitters of greenhouse gases, are at the bottom of the group of countries with very low performance in combating climate change.
While the United States recorded an advance in the ranking by 3 places compared to last year thanks to the climate measures introduced after Joe Biden took office, China fell 13 places and Russia 3 places due to the noticeable increase in investment in fossil fuels despite the increased use of renewable energy in these countries.
Major European countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany and France also fell in the index ranking this year compared to last year.
France recorded the largest decline from 17th to 28th place due to the slowdown in increasing the share of renewable energies.