Climate Change Performance Index

The Climate Change Performance Index for 2007 has ranked countries according to their action to reduce pollution and minimize the effects of climate change.

The world's only superpower and biggest emitter of greenhouse gas is ranked almost last. The United States came in 53rd position, with only China, Malaysia, and Saudi Arabia ranking worse than America.

According to the organization that released the climate change report, "the big emitters among the 56 countries that form the CCPI are not moving forward and even take steps back on climate protection. Furthermore, even those countries that have made it into the upper ranks are progressing rather slowly. The UK and Germany, for example, score well overall (ranks 2 and 5 respectively), but need to improve in certain areas. Through its wide range of factors considered, the index even allows an evaluation of the effectiveness of climate policy measures - like renewable energy support and emissions trading." German Watch

The top ten best ranked countries working to fight climate change are..

• Sweden
• United Kingdom
• Denmark
• Malta
• Germany
• Argentina
• Hungary
• Brazil
• India
• Switzerland

The Top ten worst performers include..

• Australia (thanks to John Howard!)
• South Korea
• Iran
• Thailand
• Canada
• Kazakhstan
• USA (thanks to George W. Bush!)
• China
• Malaysia
• Saudi Arabia

The full report can be seen on the German Watch Website.

It's all about leadership and making that leadership accountable. Leaders like the Australian prime minister John Howard and the American President George Bush are finally starting to take baby-steps towards some kind of action against climate change, but not necessarily because they believe in it. It's because they can see that voters see climate change as an issue that would influence their vote. The people are speaking..
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