Nary A "Very Good" In Climate Action

Sadly, it seems that the biggest offenders in terms of global warming emissions also tend to be the worst laggards in terms of leadership and positive action. In Bali, it is Canada, Australia, the U.S. and Japan that thus far oppose binding targets for emissions cuts. In non-profit Germanwatch's comparison of the top 56 highest CO2-emitting nations it is Canada, Australia, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia that rank at the absolute bottom in terms of climate protection policies.

Tiny Sweden emerges as winner in what Germanwatch calls "Climate Change Performance" with a score of 65.6. Germany takes second place with 64.5, Iceland is third with 62.6, and - somewhat surprisingly - Mexico and India are fourth and fifth with 62.5 and 62.4 respectively.

Any ranking can be faulted for how it chooses to weigh various indicators that make up a ranking. Germanwatch tried to compensate for Sweden and other countries' pre-existing "advantaged" position as far as renewable energies are concerned by giving upward or downward trends in emissions a weighting of 50 percent. Climate policies count for 20 percent, while a country's current emission levels makes up the final 30 percent. Yet in Germanwatch's opinion there is as yet no country that could rate a "Very Good" as far as climate protection is concerned. Via ::EndsEuropeDaily

If climate change protection were an Olympic discipline, no country would deserve to climb the winner's victory podium.

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