Germany-based nonprofit organization Germanwatch and Climate Action Network Europe yesterday issued the results of its Climate Performance Index — a ranking of 58 nations based upon their commitment to environmental protection — in which Taiwan ranked 54th, with the nation’s climate policy marked as “very poor” by the report.
The index was announced to coincide with the ongoing UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Lima which began on Monday last week and is scheduled to run through Friday, to highlight environmental protection.
Taking the form of a bar graph, the index showed Taiwan’s climate policy bar to be significantly shorter than that of China and South Korea.
The ranking starts from No. 4 because “no country is doing enough to prevent dangerous climate change,” organization officials said.
The data showed that Taiwan’s production capacity is relatively low and that it is not doing enough to develop renewable energy sources.
The nation scored 46.81 out of 100, and its performance was graded “very poor” in the annual report.
Among other Asian nations, South Korea was ranked 55th, while Japan and Singapore dropped from No. 50 and No. 48 to No. 53 and No. 50 respectively.
In comparison, China, albeit the world’s biggest emitter of carbon dioxide, accounting for 22.95 percent of global emissions, climbed from No. 48 to No. 46 due to its development of wind and solar energies, the report said.
China managed to cut emissions growth in its carbon-intensive infrastructure development industry by half — from 54 percent to 27 percent, the report said.
Denmark, the UK and Portugal fared the best in the index, taking 4th, 5th and 6th places respectively.
The rankings, conducted by a panel of 250 experts on climate change and representatives from international non-governmental organizations, graded nations by five criteria: carbon dioxide emissions, energy efficiency, the development of renewable energy, and the formulation of domestic and international policies to address climate change.
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