Australia Ranks Lowest Among Industrialised Nations In Climate Change Performance

Australia was named the poorest performer among industrialised nations when it comes to climate change action. The climate change performance index found Australia to be the worst-performing country while Denmark, Sweden and Britain topped the list.

In a new climate change report released at the UN climate talks in Peru, the Australian government was mentioned to have reversed climate policies that were previously in effect before Prime Minister Tony Abbott won the election. As a result of the reversal, Australia lost 21 positions in the climate policy review compared to the evaluation in 2013. The Guardian reported that the country had replaced Canada as the worst-performing industrialised economy against climate change.

The new report indicated that even if all countries would perform as well as the top-ranking countries in the index, global temperatures would still increase to more than 2 °C at levels experts considered dangerous.

The climate change performance index was produced by Climate Action Network Europe and think tank Germanwatch. The report includes the top 58 countries found to be the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases in the world and account for 90 percent of carbon emissions.

Greenwatch report author Jan Burck said the six countries at the bottom of the ranking, such as Russia, Iran, Canada, Kazakhstan, Austraia and Saudi Arabia, have fossil fuels as resources. He remarked to the Guardian that Australia had abolished what could have been "some very good carbon laws."

Since Mr Abbott took office, the government has scrapped the carbon tax policy and has expressed interest in cutting Australia's renewable energy target in half. The government has yet to secure enough votes in the Senate to reduce the legislated target. The move has created uncertainty for investors of renewable energy in the country, according to BBC.

The report was released during the second week of climate policy negotiations that aims to develop a draft for a new global climate change agreement to be signed by all countries in the next climate talks in Paris, France in 2015. Australia was ranked based on its performance in five key areas such as the level of emissions, trends, energy efficiency, renewable energy policies and approach to climate change. Burck had praised Denmark for being the best-performing country that others can emulate. The country topped the index for its ambitious renewable energy policies and emissions reduction measures.