Malta ranks 12th in the world and fifth in the EU when it comes to action being taken to combat climate change, according to a report published this week by Germanwatch and Climate Action Network.
The report gives Malta a score of 63.8 and places it in the ninth position of the countries in the “good” category, adding that it has improved its position.
The reason Malta ranks 12th instead of ninth is that the report leaves the top three positions empty, since no country is doing enough to tackle the hot issue.
In fact the report says that even countries with high rankings have “no reason to sit back and relax”.
“On the contrary the results illustrate that even if all countries were as engaged as the current frontrunners, efforts would still be insufficient to prevent dangerous climate change.”
No specific reasons are given for Malta’s placing but the criteria on which the rankings are based indicate that its strengths lie in its climate policy and the trends in its emissions, rather than its current emissions levels.
“Eighty per cent of the evaluation is based on objective indicators of emissions trend and emissions level. Twenty per cent results from national and international climate policy assessments by 190 experts from the respective countries,” the report says. In all, 57 countries are listed in the index, accounting for 90 per cent of global energy-related CO2 emissions. The bottom 10 feature Iran, USA, China, Australia and Saudi Arabia.
Brazil, Sweden and Norway come in at the top of the table but are listed in fourth, fifth and sixth places. Malta is placed right below Mexico and above Switzerland.
Most of the top ranking countries form part of the EU or are newly industrialised, like Brazil, India and Mexico.
The Climate Change Performance Index describes itself as an “innovative instrument that enhances transparency in international climate politics”. It was published some days before the end of the climate change summit currently taking place in Cancun, a year after an anticlimactic accord was reached in Copenhagen.
Resources Minister George Pullicino yesterday arrived in Cancun to participate in the negotiation process for a new agreement.