November 17th, 2006, 00:05
(Bangkokpost.com, Agencies)
Thailand ranks among the world's 10 worst countries in dealing with climate change, a new report says.
According to Germanwatch, Thailand emissions were growing quickly, and the country had no climate policy worth considering. The resulting score of minus 0.49 on Germanwatch's scale earned Thailand the 50th spot among 56 countries studied, between Iran and Canada.
Thailand was also in the company of oil-consuming giants the US and China, along with oil-producing behemoth Saudi Arabia in the worst 10, according to the annual study by Germanwatch, a German environmental group.
Last year, Thailand was 12th worst in the world, according to Germanwatch. The report was released in Nairobi on the sidelines of a UN climate change conference.
Their dependence on fossil fuels coupled with what some see as short-sighted energy policies earned them the dubious distinction of placing at or near the bottom of a survey of 56 industrialised or industrialising nations, the report said.
The US, the world's leading polluter, ranked 53; Saudi Arabia placed dead last, China fell from 29 on last year's list to 54, while Thailand landed a spot at 50, according to the survey based on an evaluation of greenhouse gas emissions and climate policy.
Rounding out the worst 10 were South Korea (48), Iran (49), Australia (47), Canada (51), Kazakhstan (52) and Malaysia (55).
At the upper end of the scale, seven European countries - led by Sweden, Britain and Denmark, respectively - and a trio of developing economies - Argentina, Brazil, and India - were deemed among the Top 10, the report said.
Others in the top ten were Malta, Germany, Hungary and Switzerland, leading the group to call for Europe to take the lead in global efforts to combat climate change.
"It is clear from this study a coalition of European countries and some of the large developing countries and those with leading environmental policy ... should take the helm of a coalition to build our future climate regime on," Germanwatch policy director Christoph Bals said.
At the same time, he lamented that even the efforts of the top scorers were not enough to effectively curb and reverse global warming.
"There is no winner," Mr Bals said. "The leader, Sweden, is only the one-eyed king among the blind."
The study looked at greenhouse gas emissions over the past year, over the past five years and environmental and climate policies.
Only countries that release more than a 1 per cent share of all greenhouse gas emissions and rapidly developing economies are targeted by the evaluation.
http://www.germanwatch.org/klima/ccpi07c.pdf
No gold medal winners in climate protection competition
Germanwatch and CAN-Europe present 2007 Climate Change Performance Index
Nairobi, 13 November 2006: "If climate change protection were an Olympic Discipline, no country would make it to the medal ranks", concludes Matthias Duwe, Director of Climate Action Europe, based on the outcome of the country rankings that forms the base of the 2007 Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI). The CCPI results clearly show that current efforts to stop dangerous climate change are insufficient.
However, the seven European countries, led by Sweden, that make up the TOP10 together with three rapidly industrialising countries (Argentina, Brazil, India) constitute significant potential for a new progressive climate change coalition. Other countries such as South Africa and China, both of which have high emissions but score well on climate policy, could support such an alliance of progressive Parties.
A few exceptions notwithstanding, the big emitters among the 56 countries that form the CCPI are not moving forward and even take steps back on climate protection. Furthermore, even those countries that have made it into the upper ranks are progressing rather slowly. The UK and Germany, for example, score well overall (ranks 2 and 5 respectively), but need to improve in certain areas. Through its wide range of factors considered, the index even allows an evaluation of the effectiveness of climate policy measures - like renewable energy support and emissions trading.
Christoph Bals, political director of Germanwatch, points out that the Index can highlight changes in policy. "If the USA, currently among the bottom five, were to exercise an international climate policy stance as progressive as the UK, it would move up more than 30 places".
Jan Burck and other Germanwatch experts developed the CCPI methodology, which is meant to help increase transparency in international climate policy. The Index compares the climate protection efforts of 56 industrialised and rapidly industrialising countries, that together make up more than 90% of global carbon dioxide emissions. The CCPI was published for the first time earlier in 2006, and an updated version with the latest data and insights is being presented at the World Climate Summit in Nairobi, Kenya. Recently, its usage for country ratings in financial markets was agreed with German rating agency OEKOM Research in Munich.
The Climate Change Performance Index allows for a thorough and reliable comparison between countries, because it does not only look at emission volumes of a given country, but analyses trends in emission and even includes an assessment of the climate policies at both domestic and international level respectively. The Index is based on data sets from the International Energy Agency (IEA) and a qualitative survey among national experts who supplied detailed policy assessments.
Thailand ranks among the world's 10 worst countries in dealing with climate change, a new report says.
According to Germanwatch, Thailand emissions were growing quickly, and the country had no climate policy worth considering. The resulting score of minus 0.49 on Germanwatch's scale earned Thailand the 50th spot among 56 countries studied, between Iran and Canada.
Thailand was also in the company of oil-consuming giants the US and China, along with oil-producing behemoth Saudi Arabia in the worst 10, according to the annual study by Germanwatch, a German environmental group.
Last year, Thailand was 12th worst in the world, according to Germanwatch. The report was released in Nairobi on the sidelines of a UN climate change conference.
Their dependence on fossil fuels coupled with what some see as short-sighted energy policies earned them the dubious distinction of placing at or near the bottom of a survey of 56 industrialised or industrialising nations, the report said.
The US, the world's leading polluter, ranked 53; Saudi Arabia placed dead last, China fell from 29 on last year's list to 54, while Thailand landed a spot at 50, according to the survey based on an evaluation of greenhouse gas emissions and climate policy.
Rounding out the worst 10 were South Korea (48), Iran (49), Australia (47), Canada (51), Kazakhstan (52) and Malaysia (55).
At the upper end of the scale, seven European countries - led by Sweden, Britain and Denmark, respectively - and a trio of developing economies - Argentina, Brazil, and India - were deemed among the Top 10, the report said.
Others in the top ten were Malta, Germany, Hungary and Switzerland, leading the group to call for Europe to take the lead in global efforts to combat climate change.
"It is clear from this study a coalition of European countries and some of the large developing countries and those with leading environmental policy ... should take the helm of a coalition to build our future climate regime on," Germanwatch policy director Christoph Bals said.
At the same time, he lamented that even the efforts of the top scorers were not enough to effectively curb and reverse global warming.
"There is no winner," Mr Bals said. "The leader, Sweden, is only the one-eyed king among the blind."
The study looked at greenhouse gas emissions over the past year, over the past five years and environmental and climate policies.
Only countries that release more than a 1 per cent share of all greenhouse gas emissions and rapidly developing economies are targeted by the evaluation.
http://www.germanwatch.org/klima/ccpi07c.pdf
No gold medal winners in climate protection competition
Germanwatch and CAN-Europe present 2007 Climate Change Performance Index
Nairobi, 13 November 2006: "If climate change protection were an Olympic Discipline, no country would make it to the medal ranks", concludes Matthias Duwe, Director of Climate Action Europe, based on the outcome of the country rankings that forms the base of the 2007 Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI). The CCPI results clearly show that current efforts to stop dangerous climate change are insufficient.
However, the seven European countries, led by Sweden, that make up the TOP10 together with three rapidly industrialising countries (Argentina, Brazil, India) constitute significant potential for a new progressive climate change coalition. Other countries such as South Africa and China, both of which have high emissions but score well on climate policy, could support such an alliance of progressive Parties.
A few exceptions notwithstanding, the big emitters among the 56 countries that form the CCPI are not moving forward and even take steps back on climate protection. Furthermore, even those countries that have made it into the upper ranks are progressing rather slowly. The UK and Germany, for example, score well overall (ranks 2 and 5 respectively), but need to improve in certain areas. Through its wide range of factors considered, the index even allows an evaluation of the effectiveness of climate policy measures - like renewable energy support and emissions trading.
Christoph Bals, political director of Germanwatch, points out that the Index can highlight changes in policy. "If the USA, currently among the bottom five, were to exercise an international climate policy stance as progressive as the UK, it would move up more than 30 places".
Jan Burck and other Germanwatch experts developed the CCPI methodology, which is meant to help increase transparency in international climate policy. The Index compares the climate protection efforts of 56 industrialised and rapidly industrialising countries, that together make up more than 90% of global carbon dioxide emissions. The CCPI was published for the first time earlier in 2006, and an updated version with the latest data and insights is being presented at the World Climate Summit in Nairobi, Kenya. Recently, its usage for country ratings in financial markets was agreed with German rating agency OEKOM Research in Munich.
The Climate Change Performance Index allows for a thorough and reliable comparison between countries, because it does not only look at emission volumes of a given country, but analyses trends in emission and even includes an assessment of the climate policies at both domestic and international level respectively. The Index is based on data sets from the International Energy Agency (IEA) and a qualitative survey among national experts who supplied detailed policy assessments.