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Ireland ranked worst country in Europe on climate action

Ireland has been ranked as the worst country in Europe on climate action for the second year in a...
Newstalk
Newstalk

10.34 10 Dec 2018


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Ireland ranked worst country i...

Ireland ranked worst country in Europe on climate action

Newstalk
Newstalk

10.34 10 Dec 2018


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Ireland has been ranked as the worst country in Europe on climate action for the second year in a row.

The 2019 Climate Change Performance Index was launched as part of the United Nations Climate Conference (COP 24) in Katowice.

The index is produced annually on the basis of joint analysis by two leading European think-tanks.

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Its aim is to put political and social pressure on countries that have failed to take ambitious action on climate protection, and to highlight those countries with best practice climate policies.

It places Ireland 48th out of 56 countries worldwide, up one place from last year.

The ranking results are defined by a country's aggregated performance regarding 14 indicators within four categories on emissions, renewable energy, energy use and climate policy.

Sweden leads the rankings, followed by Morocco and Lithuania.

The bottom five are Saudi Arabia, the United States, Iran, the Republic of Korea and Chinese Taipei.

While almost half of the G20 countries are in the group of very low performers: Japan (49), Turkey (50), Russian Federation (52), Canada (54), Australia (55) and Korea (57), the USA (59) and Saudi Arabia (60).

Image: Germanwatch

Meanwhile, Ireland's polluting emissions are on an upward trend.

A special all-party Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action is currently considering the recommendations on climate action from the Citizens' Assembly.

It will produce proposals for the development of Ireland's new National Energy and Climate Plan.

On Ireland, the report says: "National experts commend the Irish Parliament for its leadership in deciding to pass the Fossil Fuel Divestment Bill, which is the first of its kind in the world, and for the innovative Citizens’ Assembly process which produced far reaching recommendations for climate action now being considered by a special parliamentary committee working on the development of Ireland’s National Energy and Climate Plan.

"Therefore, the performance on international climate policy is rated medium."

But it adds: "Existing climate mitigation efforts will not enable Ireland to achieve either its EU 2020 or 2030 targets domestically.

"The long-standing lack of implementation of substantive measures to put the country on a well-below-2°C pathway results in a very low rating for Ireland’s national policy performance."


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