At the Paris COP 21 Summit, the Germanwatch and Climate Action Network Europe released their annual assessment report called Climate Change Performance Index 2016. 

The report measures actual emission levels per capita, the trend in emissions projections, the deployment of renewable energy, and the energy intensity of the economy, and assesses climate policies for each of the 58 countries.

The purpose of the report is to apply both political and social pressure on countries, which failed to do enough to protect the environment as well as showcase best practices by those nations making actual changes through their efforts and policies. The report is also a transparent way to measure each nation?s performance.

There were two things that caught my attention when I read through this report.

1. I was surprised to see where Korea ranked on this report. Living in Korea, I always thought Korea was far better off compared to other nations. The air seems to be cleaner and companies and governments are doing what seems to be the right thing to protect the environment. However, the report shows otherwise. Accompanying Korea, at the bottom of the list are countries such as Australia and Canada – two countries that I was also surprised to see.  

2. The top three spots in the report are left vacant. The report ranks from 4 onwards. This shows that no countries in the world are doing enough to deserve top three positions in the report. 

In next year?s report, I hope to see those top three spots filled and Korea improving in the standings. 

For the full report please visit https://germanwatch.org/en/11390