Belgium is in seventh place in the 2016 edition of the ‘Climate Change Performance Index’, a ranking of countries’ climate policies established by German environmental organisation Germanwatch with Climate Action Network Europe, and presented at the United Nations Climate Conference (COP21) on Tuesday. In reality, Belgium (whose performance is described as “good”) is fourth best, as the first three places in the rankings are left empty because “no country does enough to avoid the terrible consequences of climate change,” note the authors of this ‘Climate Change Performance Index’.
Denmark comes first for the fifth year in a row and thus is ranked fourth, followed by the United Kingdom and Sweden. The rankings are based on CO2 emissions per resident, and how they are evolving, use of renewable energy sources, energy performance for each national economy, and public policies to deal with climate change. 300 energy and climate experts, most of whom are members of environmental NGOs, also collaborated in establishing these rankings.
Saudi Arabia comes last (61st) of this index first started in 2005. Other “very weak” performers are Australia (59th), Japan (58th), and Canada (56th). The heaviest polluters of the planet, USA and China, are 34th and 47th.
(Source: Belga)
