Merry Christmas

I hope that everyone is able to enjoy this day with his or her family.
I wish you a merry Christmas!

© Sheepcafe

Climate Change Performance Index: China ranks 40th, the US 55th...

German NGO Germanwatch recently published its 2008 Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI). The CCPI is a measure of the climate protection performance of the 56 most polluting countries, which together are responsible for over 90 per cent of global emissions. I think this index is extraordinarily innovative because it not only takes into account the current emission levels, but also the trend in emission levels as well as policy actions directed towards energy-efficiency and emission reduction. The three top ranks are occupied by Sweden, Germany and Iceland. Interestingly, they are closely followed by Mexico and India with their scores being positively influenced by policy actions and the emission trend. The remaining top 10 positions are held by Hungary, the UK, Brazil, Switzerland and Argentina.

Alarming though are the positions of the world's two top-polluters, China and the US (China is currently responsible for 18.8% of the world's energy-related CO2 emissions, the US for 21.4%). With China ranking 40th and the US 55th, those countries with the largest possible lever on emission reduction are not found in the top ranks. But while China has improved by 4 positions during the last year (from 44 to 40), the US has lost 2 ranks (from 53 to 55). China of course has to improve further and implement more emission reduction measures, but we nevertheless have to bear in mind that the Middle Kingdom is still a developing country (at least in its rural areas). Though the ranking trend shows that the country is already moving into the right direction. When talking about the US, I think that it is a shame that the political leaders of the country which led the world's economic development after the second world war and also initiated the informational revolution in the nineties is today still totally ignorant to the issue of climate change, which has been a scientifically proven fact for several years and even more since the publication of the recent UN climate reports. For the benefit of the world, let us hope that reason soon also makes its way to the White House - and if not during this presidency, then at least in the course of the following...

Back online

After two months of suffering without an Internet connection, I am finally back online. Assuming there are still people checking my blog once in a while, there will soon be new posts. Stay tuned.