Germany "mediocre" in climate ranking

World Climate Conference - Germany "mediocre" in climate ranking

School grades at the World Climate Conference: Germany scored "mediocre" in an international comparison of climate protection - but improved slightly compared to the previous year. In the annual index published by the environmental organizations Germanwatch and the NewClimate Institute in Dubai, Germany was ranked 14th - two places better than the previous year.

At the same time, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) is taking on a decisive role at the climate conference: she is to lead the negotiations for the EU on whether the global community can agree on greater ambition in climate protection.

The authors of the index positively highlighted Germany's progress in expanding renewable energies. Nevertheless, Germany received a "mediocre" rating in all categories. "The reasons for the rather mediocre rating of Germany's national climate policy lie primarily in a transport policy that is too weak in terms of climate policy, the weakening of the Climate Protection Act and a building energy law that was watered down in the end," said Jan Burck, one of the authors of the study. "These are all the results of the often conflicting climate policy ambitions within the coalition." The index assesses the efforts of 63 countries and the EU, which account for more than 90 percent of all climate-damaging greenhouse gas emissions.

Places 1 to 3 remain empty

As in previous years, the first three places remain empty - because, according to the authors, no country is doing enough for climate protection to achieve the Paris climate targets. This refers to the goal agreed in Paris in 2015 of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees compared to pre-industrial times.

Overall, not a single country received a "good" rating for its climate policy. "Governments are implementing fewer climate policy measures and have to solve many crises at the same time," says co-author Niklas Höhne from the NewClimate Institute. "Even countries with better climate policies, such as Denmark, appear to be further away from achieving the Paris climate targets than in previous years."

Denmark is considered a pioneer

As in previous years, Denmark leads the ranking - Estonia and the Philippines also occupy top places. Among the rising stars is Brazil, which catapulted from 38th to 23rd place year-on-year after President Lula da Silva took office. This is mainly due to the fact that the new government has started to curb deforestation.

The major polluters China and the USA continue to perform poorly in most categories. However, China is among the leaders in renewable energies. The USA is praised for US President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which has also boosted the expansion of renewables and energy efficiency.

In addition to boosting renewables and energy efficiency in Dubai, the German government is particularly committed to phasing out coal, oil and gas. Baerbock emphasized: "I am saying quite clearly here: the phase-out of fossil fuels and not the phase-out of fossil emissions." This is "a huge difference". It is already clear that there will be "the fiercest wrangling" over this point in the end.

Baerbock does not want to allow any back doors

Behind the point of contention is the possible future role of technologies such as the storage or capture of carbon dioxide. A phrase such as "phasing out "fossil emissions" includes the use of such technologies. Critics fear that this could end up providing a pretext for the continued use of climate-damaging fossil fuels, the negative effects of which could only be partially offset at best. The host - the United Arab Emirates - as an oil state, had already campaigned for such technologies before the start, as had other countries.

The United Nations climate chief, Simon Stiell, warned: "COP28 must focus on solutions that will lead all countries out of the climate mess." Compromises must be made, but these must not be at the expense of ambitious results. "I don't want any distractions or political games this week that hold climate protection hostage."