CLIMATE CHANGE PERFORMANCE INDEX: ITALY IN 46TH PLACE, EU IN 20TH

• According to the CCPI, two-thirds of countries are reducing emissions while one-third are ‘stubbornly increasing’ them
• The European Union shows both excellence and unsatisfactory performance; Italy is in the second half of the ranking
• Half of the G20 countries, among the main contributors to the climate crisis, are among the worst performers

On the second day of COP30 — dedicated to nature, local people and communities, and future generations — the new report was presented, offering a look at the planet’s future by examining the present and the past: the 2026 Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI). Italian Climate Network followed the presentation of the updated data.

The Index, developed by Germanwatch, the NewClimate Institute, and CAN International, is a monitoring tool used to track countries’ climate-mitigation efforts. The twenty-first edition was presented in Belém.

We are 10 years on from the Paris Agreement and we’ve come a long way,” emphasized Niklas Höhne of the NewClimate Institute, one of the report’s authors. “Our projections for global temperatures by the end of the century are much better than they were just 10 years ago: back then we thought we were heading toward 3.5°C; now the estimate is a little over 2.5°C or slightly lower — but unfortunately greenhouse-gas emissions are still rising.” “The good news,” Höhne pointed out, “is that over the past 10 years many countries have implemented more climate policies, and we can see that two-thirds of the countries we are monitoring are reducing carbon emissions, while one-third are stubbornly increasing them.

CONFIDENCE IN THE PEAK OF GLOBAL EMISSIONS

The NewClimate Institute researcher, however, expressed confidence that we will ‘reach a peak in global emissions very soon and then emissions will decline, because renewable energy is expanding exponentially.

The Index examines 63 countries and the European Union as a collective entity across four areas: greenhouse-gas emissions (40% of the Index weight), renewable energy (20%), energy efficiency (20%), and climate policy (20%).
A total of 450 experts from around the world assess the climate policies that countries are implementing, analyzing past trends, the current status, and future prospects for each area. For the latter, an important factor is the new Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

2026 PERFORMANCE INDEX RANKINGS

The 2026 report data were presented by Thea Uhlich of Germanwatch, co-author of the analysis, who highlighted that ‘the top three spots in the ranking remain empty, because no country is doing enough across all four categories.’

Denmark leads the ranking for the sixth consecutive year, performing best in all four categories. It is followed by the United Kingdom, which continues to improve, Morocco, and Chile.

In the group of countries with medium performance, among others, we find the European Union as a whole (in 20th place), France, Germany, India, and Brazil. Regarding India, the researcher clarified that it drops a few positions ‘because it is now last in the emissions category’ and in ‘climate policy mainly because it lacks a plan for the gradual phase-out of coal.’

Among the low-performing countries are eight European Union members, including Italy (in 46th place; four years ago it was 29th), Colombia, Egypt, South Africa, Indonesia, and also the EU country with the worst performance, Bulgaria.

HALF OF THE G20 AMONG THE WORST PERFORMERS

In the very low-performance group, Uhlich emphasized, ‘we find 10 G20 countries, which is quite concerning because we all know that G20 countries are responsible for around 75% of global greenhouse-gas emissions. They have a special responsibility to reduce their emissions, and currently not all of them are doing so fast enough.’ In this group are China, Australia, Japan, Canada, the United Arab Emirates, South Korea, Russia, the United States, Iran, and Saudi Arabia at the bottom.

China has improved by one position, mainly due to its very high score in the renewable energy category. Both countries bidding to host the next COP31 — Australia and Turkey — are also among the very low performers.

CCPI INDICATORS BEFORE AND AFTER PARIS

Among the most interesting aspects highlighted by the report is the trend of many indicators before and after the Paris Agreement: greenhouse gases (GHG), per-capita greenhouse gases, renewable energy (RE), total primary energy supply (TPES), the ratio of renewables to total primary energy, and the ratio of greenhouse gases to total primary energy.
Overall, this clearly illustrates the role of the Agreement — which marks its tenth anniversary this year — as a key factor in emissions reduction.

The 2015 Agreement is not something that the Brazilian COP30 can merely celebrate; it must aim to exceed expectations in terms of results across all the topics under discussion in the negotiation rooms — and the Brazilian Presidency seems to be pushing strongly in this direction. One can only hope that the vetoes, reluctance, and short-sightedness of some Parties, which appear at the bottom of this special ranking, do not sabotage the work of those who seem determined to strive for an ambitious outcome.

Article by Paolo Della Ventura, coordinator of the Climate and Advocacy section of Italian Climate Network

Charts taken from the Climate Change Performance Index 2026 report. Here is the 2026 report.