According to the Climate Change Performance Index, Iran is third out of 61 countries that had the worst performance in fighting global warming in 2020.
Placed 59th, Iran is among the worst performers just above Saudi Arabia (60th) and the United States (61st), Bargh News reported.
Iran’s position has declined slightly compared to last year’s CCPI when it was one notch lower. Details of the unacceptable performance show a grim picture similar to last year in the very low-rated areas of greenhouse gas emissions and renewables.
Strikingly, Iran performs very low in all indicators of both categories, indicating very poor current levels and no sign of improvement in the foreseeable future.
Furthermore, in energy use and climate policy category, significant setbacks are reported with Iran receiving ‘very low’ and ‘low ratings’.
The annual CCPI, published since 2005, is an independent monitoring tool for tracking climate protection performance of 57 countries and the European Union, which together generate 90%+ of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Iran’s position has declined slightly compared to last year’s CCPI when it was one notch lower. Details of the unacceptable performance show a grim picture similar to last year in the very low-rated areas of greenhouse gas emissions and renewables
Germanwatch, the NewClimate Institute and the Climate Action Network publish the index annually, which seeks to enhance transparency in international climate politics and it enables comparison of individual countries’ climate protection efforts and progress.
Using standardized criteria, the CCPI looks at four categories including greenhouse gas emissions, renewable energy, energy use, and climate policy, thus providing a comprehensive overview of the current efforts and progress of the countries analyzed.
A review of Iran's performance in the latest report shows the county’s best position in the four categories is related to the index of climate policy, in which it is ranked 40th and the worst in the renewable energy category in which Iran is last with the weakest performance among 61 countries.
This further shows why the country in saddled with unending air pollution and the factors affecting it. So long as consumption of fossil fuels is high and renewables on the periphery air pollution will continue to take a heavy toll.
In this year’s report, no country performs well enough in all index categories to achieve an overall “very high” rating in the index. Sweden has the best ranking with a ‘high’ in three categories followed by the UK and Denmark.
Nations are scored on the basis of energy consumption per person, as well as strategies used to reduce it, the percentage of renewables in the energy mix, pace of clean expansion and what policymakers are doing to implement the climate change agreement at home and internationally.
Although there is gradual progress in almost every area this year compared to last year’s report, it is far too slow and does not correspond to the urgency that is necessary to protect the Earth.
This year’s loser was the United States ranked last for the second consecutive year. It is yet to be seen whether or not president-elect Joe Biden’s declared policy to protect the climate will be implemented.
