EDITORIAL -Climate change performance

Last week the government announced a piece of encouraging news. Being included for the first time in the Climate Change Performance Index, the Philippines ranked 23rd among 63 countries and the European Union as one entity in terms of climate protection efforts. Those included in the CCPI account for approximately 90 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

The independent monitoring tool has been published annually since 2005 by environmental NGO Germanwatch, the NewClimate Institute and the Climate Action Network, in consultation with some 450 climate and energy experts.

Each country is assessed based on greenhouse gas emissions, renewable energy, energy use and climate policy. Based on these categories, no country has achieved an overall “very high” rating in the index, so the top three ranks are empty.

The Scandinavian countries lead: Denmark tops the index at fourth place, followed by Sweden, Norway, the United Kingdom and Morocco. Economic wealth does not translate into significant efforts in fighting climate change. The United States is consistently ranked among the worst in the index. This year the US is again near the bottom together with Kazakhstan, Russia, Saudi Arabia and South Korea. Australia also suffered a considerable drop in ranking.

The Philippines rated low in climate policy, medium in renewable energy, and high in emissions and energy use. The country had submitted last April its first nationally determined contribution, setting an emission reduction and avoidance target of 75 percent by 2030, in line with its commitment to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. The climate efforts are committed in agriculture, industry, waste, transport and energy sectors.

The CCPI report, however, took note of the country’s actual implementation of climate change efforts and considered the 75 percent target ambitious, while current climate policies “are not ambitious enough” and with “no clear plan for how to achieve the goal.”

These are the challenges faced by the government, even as it touts the country’s 23rd place in the climate performance index.