Who’s top of the climate charts?
10 July 2009
The leaders of the world’s richest countries, the G8, have announced they’ve all agreed that average global temperature must be prevented from rising more than 2 degrees C. But are they practising what they preach…?
Over the past few years we’ve been keeping watch on each of them to see who’s most on-track to meet their Kyoto targets for greenhouse gas emissions.
Just to remind you, the big industrialised countries really need to reduce CO2 emissions by at least 80%, ideally 95%, by 2050 if we want to keep the rise in global temperatures below 2 degrees.
The bad news is that none of the G8 countries are currently on-track to meet this target, although some are making much better progress than others.
We thought it would be enlightening, in the run-up to decisive talks in Copenhagen in December, to show which of these eight countries is making most progress in carbon reduction – and encourage everyone to up their game…
To misquote Oscar Wilde: “All of us are in the gutter, but some of us seem to be face-down.”
The G8 climate charts
Our 2009 G8 Scorecards, the third annual emissions chart from WWF and Allianz (prepared for us by Ecofys), compares the current performance of all G8 countries, looks at trends since 1990, and takes into account support for energy efficiency, renewables and development of carbon markets. We'll reveal the results, traditionally, in reverse order...
Starting down at Number 8, sneaking in at the bottom of the chart, is Canada.
Some people thought Canada might do better, because they rely a lot on hydro-electric power, but that’s just not been enough.
Problem is, Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions are rising all the time. In fact, the only people in the world who produce more CO2 emissions per person are US citizens... and we’ll come back to them shortly.
Right now it looks like Canada will miss its Kyoto targets by a long way – they’re already nearly 30% above where they were in 1990!.
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Climbing one place above them, at Number 7, is the USA.
Things are starting to look up for them, thanks to President Obama’s ambitions to fight global warming.
If he succeeds, the US climate performance could improve enormously – but right now, emissions are still increasing and are the world’s highest per person, which is why they’re still way down our chart.
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At Number 6... it’s Russia.
Actually, Russia’s emissions were quite low for a long time – but that was because lots of the big Soviet industries collapsed in the 1990s, taking their CO2 emissions with them...
But recently emissions have started rising again. Russia does have policies to reverse this trend, but they just haven’t really implemented them yet, so they’re still stuck in the bottom half of our chart.
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At Number 5 – a non-mover from last year – it’s Japan.
It turns out Japan’s CO2 emissions are actually pretty low for an industrialised country, although that has a lot to do with their reliance on low-carbon but otherwise ungreen nuclear power. Still, as things stand at the moment, Japan won’t meet its commitments under the Kyoto Protocol – slightly ironic, as the Protocol was of course signed in Japan...
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There’s no change either at Number 4... Italy.
Italy has the lowest emissions per person out of all the G8 countries – but frontman Silvio Berlusconi has let the side down with some weak climate policies. They’re also unlikely to meet their Kyoto targets, and that holds them back a bit in our chart.
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Into the top 3, at Number 3, it’s France.
France is one of the few countries that’s actually achieved its Kyoto target already, which is why it’s one of our top trio.
But its good figures are spoiled, partly because it depends so much on nuclear power, but also because it doesn’t really have very forward-looking policies. Could do better.
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Only two countries left... Who’s going to be Number 1...?
Well, it’s not the UK – we’ve been pipped at the post, though we’ve done relatively well, reaching Number 2.
The UK’s emissions are already below its Kyoto target – and it actually has the most innovative climate policies and the most radical legislated long-term target for cutting CO2 emissions, aiming at an 80% minimum by 2050.
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So now we come to the best climate performer in the G8 for 2009... only just ahead of the UK.
At Number 1, top of the climate pops, is Germany.
Total German emissions have declined over recent years – although it must be said that’s largely been because of the economic downturn in eastern Germany.
But Germany’s biggest achievement has been their fantastically successful promoting of renewable energy.
Let’s hope all the other G8 countries will try to copy that – and who knows which of them will end up at Number 1 next year…
News stories
- HSBC gets active for Earth Hour 2010
- Tell Gordon – carbon cuts must be 42% by 2020
- Copenhagen: half-baked and unclear
Useful links
Downloads
G8 Climate scorecards 2009
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