CCPI FAQs
General questions
The Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) was developed by Germanwatch as a tool for increasing transparency in international climate change policy. It aims to enable transparency in international climate politics and comparability of individual countries’ climate protection efforts and progress. The CCPI uses a framework of standardised criteria to assess and compare the climate performances of 63 countries and the EU (as of CCPI 2024). These collectively account for over 90% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Country rankings should clarify understanding of the complex web of separate responsibilities and fulfilled and broken promises, and encourage initial steps in international climate ACTION. The index is publicly available online. It should simultaneously be a reminder and encouragement.
The methodology of the CCPI specifically aims at “major emitters”, accounting for a significant part of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The 63 countries and the European Union (EU) assessed in the CCPI collectively account for 90% of global GHG emissions and thus it is mainly their responsibility to drastically reduce GHG emissions. Other countries with significantly lower emissions therefore are not applicable to the CCPI’s methodology. However, in the past years new countries have regularly been included (Nigeria, Pakistan, UAE and Uzbekistan were added in CCPI 2024).
The CCPI was first presented at the 11th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 11) climate change conference in Montreal in 2005. After the international press conference at COP 13 in Bali, where the index was presented for the third time, there was already press coverage from over 100 countries. This reflected its increasing importance in international climate politics.
For CCPI 2013, the methodology was revised to include emissions from deforestation. Still, many sectors, such as agriculture, could not be included until 2017, as data were missing.
Another methodological change was made for CCPI 2018 to now include all GHG emissions. Countries’ targets are also evaluated in the areas of Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Renewable Energy, and Energy Use. Since CCPI 2018, the index checks whether countries set their targets correctly and fulfil their promise made at the climate conference in Paris.
The CCPI is distributed to key media worldwide (e.g. The Guardian, China Daily, The Times of India) and frequently triggers debates in national parliaments and governments. Moreover, index data is frequently requested by researchers projects. The CCPI is also becoming increasingly important in the financial market, where it enables investors to translate global climate policy into an easy-to-apply – and scientifically sound- climate score for investment steering, portfolio transition strategies and meaningful investor dialogue.
You can read more about the impact of the CCPI here: https://ccpi.org/impact//
Questions on data (sources)
Most of the CCPI consists of quantitative data, used for the GHG Emissions, Renewable Energy, and Energy Use categories. This data is taken from the International Energy Agency (IEA), PRIMAP, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the national GHG inventories submitted to the UNFCCC. Most data can only be obtained 2 years after being recorded, so the data year is always 2 years prior to the index’s publication. However, CCPI 2023 uses GHG Emissions data for 2021 (relying on numerical methods and linear extrapolation) in order to avoid 2020 COVID-19 related effects on emissions and to include rebounding emissions in 2021.
Data for the Climate Policy category is assessed annually using a comprehensive questionnaire. The result is the policy performance rating by climate and energy policy experts from non-governmental organisations (NGOs), universities, and think tanks within the evaluated countries that makes up the category.
(More information on the CCPI’s methodology and the data used in the CCPI can be found on the CCPI’s methodology site and the methodology brochure)
The CCPI uses per capita GHG Emissions in its analysis. While some CCPI countries such as Malta and Luxembourg have a very small population with less than 700 thousand inhabitants, other CCPI countries are highly populated with a population of more than 1 billion. Countries with more inhabitants logically have a higher resource and energy consumption and thus higher overall GHG Emissions. To account for these differences in population and to allow a more just view on Emissions, the CCPI uses GHG Emissions per capita, dividing overall emission by the country’s population.
The basis of our Climate Policy data is the performance rating by our climate and energy policy experts from non-governmental organisations, universities and think tanks within the countries that are evaluated. For the CCPI 2024, about 450 national climate experts contributed to the evaluation. They evaluated their own country’s national and international policy. If the experts agree to be named, we mention them on the respective country page.
Methodological questions
You can find further information on the CCPI’s methodology here.
In the year 2017, the underlying methodology of the CCPI has been revised and adapted to the new climate policy landscape of the Paris Agreement. Even though the new methodology is based on similar ranking categories and data sources, some indicators as well as its weighting scheme have been adapted. With its new composition, the CCPI was extended to measuring a country’s progress towards the globally acknowledged goal of limiting temperature rise well below 2°C. Furthermore, the index now also evaluates the country’s 2030 targets. And finally, the former scope of looking at energy-related CO2 emissions has been extended to GHG emissions. You can read more about the methodology here: https://ccpi.org/methodology/
LULUCF emissions are included in 3 of the 4 indicators of the GHG Emissions category (current level, current level compared to a well-below-2°C benchmark and 2030 target compared to a well-below-2°C pathway). We do not include LULUCF emissions in the current trend indicator of GHG Emissions as LULUCF Emissions could be extremely volatile and calculation of trends in this volatile sector would thus not be helpful.
(More information on the CCPI’s methodology and the data used in the CCPI can be found on the CCPI’s methodology site and the methodology brochure)
The greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of each country are what ultimately influences the climate. Therefore, they can be taken as the most significant outcome of the success of climate policies. That is why the GHG Emissions category contributes 40% to the overall score of a country.
You can read more about the methodology here: https://ccpi.org/methodology/
Climate policy has an overall weight of 20%, with national and international policy making up 10% each. Despite the apparently low weighting of climate policy, this category has quite a considerable influence on short-term changes in the overall ranking. Unlike the rather “slow-moving” categories of GHG Emissions, Renewable Energy and Energy Use, a positive change in climate policy can lead a country to jump multiple positions. On the other hand, the “sluggish” categories can only be changed through successful climate change policies –therefore they play a decisive role for future scores within the CCPI.
The CCPI uses renewable energy data from the IEA, which includes energy from biomass. However, the CCPI excludes primary solid fuel biomass for residential use (mainly heating and cooking). In the absence of data assessing traditional biomass only, all renewable energy data are calculated without residential biomass for residential use, in order to prevent disadvantages for countries increasing their efforts to replace the unsustainable use of traditional biomass in their energy mix. Due to the exclusion of primary solid fuel biomass, renewable energy shares in the CCPI sometimes differ from official energy balances published by countries (predominantly for countries with a high use of solid fuel biomass). Furthermore, the CCPI includes LULUCF (land use, land use change and forestry) emissions in the GHG Emissions category and thus accounts for emission arising from deforestation and forest degradation. As use of solid biomass (mainly wood) is a controversial topic and it is not clear whether it is a sustainable contribution to energy supply there is much criticism regarding use of solid biomass combustion for energy generation. We are currently looking at ways to improve accounting of renewable energy in order to enable us to assess countries’ renewable energy shares holistically.
(More information on the CCPI’s methodology and the data used in the CCPI can be found on the CCPI’s methodology site and the methodology brochure)
The three quantitative categories GHG Emissions, Renewable Energy, and Energy Use are each defined by four indicators: Current Level, Past Trend, Well-Below-2°C Compatibility of the Current Level, and Well-Below-2°C Compatibility of the Countries’ 2030 Target. For the two indicators assessing Well-Below-2°C Compatibility of current levels and targets, Paris compatible pathways are calculated and the distance between the country’s current level/target and the Paris compatible pathway measured.
(More information on the CCPI’s methodology can be found on the CCPI’s methodology site and the methodology brochure)
In the GHG Emissions category, the calculation of individual country target pathways is based on the common but differentiated convergence approach (CDC). It is based on the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities” laid forth in the Framework Convention on Climate Change. All Annex I countries therefore have a decreasing pathway from 1990 onwards, starting at that year’s emissions. 60 years later, in 2050, these countries are expected to reach net zero emissions.
All other countries, which did not reach the level of global average emissions in 1990, are allowed to increase emissions until the average is reached. But by latest 2015 these countries, too, have decreasing pathways and 60 years to reach net zero. These pathways start from the global average.
As global distribution of Renewables (especially solar and wind) only started in the 2000s, the pathways in this category start in 2010. All countries have an equal goal: 100% Renewables in 2050, each starting from its 2010 value.
For the Energy Use category all pathways start at country’s 1990 values. From the scenarios available, we observe that the total amount of global energy use per capita must be reduced by roughly 20% between 2020 and 2050, with a margin of uncertainty. We therefore chose the well-below-2° compatible benchmark to be approximately 60 gigajoules per capita in total primary energy supply in 2050 (TPES).
(More information on the CCPI’s methodology can be found on the CCPI’s methodology site and the methodology brochure)
The indicators assessing the current level provide a value indicating the exact current value of any one given indicator, for example the current level of renewable energy or of GHG emissions. For the indicators assessing Well-Below-2°C Compatibility of current levels, Paris compatible pathways are calculated and the distance between the country’s current level/target and the Paris compatible pathway measured. Thus, while the current level indicators evaluate the absolute current level, the indicators comparing it to a well-below-2°C pathway indicate the current degree to which a country fulfils its climate targets along its specific Paris-compatible pathway.
(More information on the CCPI’s methodology can be found on the CCPI’s methodology site and the methodology brochure)
The three quantitative categories GHG Emissions, Renewable Energy, and Energy Use are each defined by four indicators: Current Level, Past Trend, Well-Below-2°C Compatibility of the Current Level, and Well-Below-2°C Compatibility of the Countries’ 2030 Target. Thus, we assess current levels as well as recent developments in the three quantitative indicators.
To recognise countries such as Brazil and Norway that have already managed to gain a major share of their total energy supply from renewable sources and therefore have less potential to further extend their share of renewable energies, 5% of the overall ranking is attributed to the share of renewable energies in the total primary energy supply (incl. hydro-power).
The second indicator of a country’s performance in the Renewable Energy category shows the recent development of energy supply from renewable sources over a five-year period. Like the other indicators in this category, this dynamic indicator accounts for 5% of the overall CCPI score.
As even Norway, the CCPI country with the highest share of renewable energy in TPES did not achieve 100% renewables yet and only has a share of renewable energy in TPES of 56.6%, all of the countries need to continue to increase their shares of renewable energy and it is thus important to also assess current trends. However, although the renewable trend indicator only makes up 5% of the total assessment, we would need to adapt our methodology, if a country reached a share of 100% renewable energy of TPES (a scenario we would very much welcome), in order to adjust the current trend indicator.
(More information on the CCPI’s methodology can be found on the CCPI’s methodology site and the methodology brochure)
Questions on CCPI results
To be in the top three, a country should be doing enough to prevent dangerous climate change. This means the country must be on track with its emissions development (including and excluding LULUCF) compared with the benchmark of well below 2°C and has set a 2030 GHG target, which fulfils the same requirements. Even Denmark, the CCPI frontrunner, does not fulfil those requirements.
For more detailed information about specific countries, check the country site.
Permission for CCPI data use is, under correct citation, granted for scientific, non-commercial purposes only.
The older CCPI editions can be found as a download here: https://ccpi.org/downloads/
The index is not available in a data base format online, but we do provide specific data sets upon requests.
Please check our Terms of Use or contact us
For information on commercial use of the CCPI please contact Jan Burck (burck@germanwatch.org) or Alex El Alaoui (ccpi@rclm-data.com) or click here
The graph above shows the development of a country over the past years compared with its Paris-compatible pathway and 2030 target. For all three quantitative categories of the CCPI, this visualisation gives an overview of where a country is right now, where it would need to be to fulfil the Paris Agreement promises and where it aims to be in 2030.
GHG Emissions per Capita
These data include LULUCF, as used for the emissions per capita indicator. This leads to the vast changes in emissions of some countries with high forest coverage.
Calculation of individual country target pathways is based on the common but differentiated convergence approach (CDC). It is based on the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities” laid forth in the Framework Convention on Climate Change. All Annex I countries therefore have a decreasing pathway from 1990 onwards, starting at that year’s emissions. 60 years later, in 2050, these countries are expected to reach net zero emissions.
All other countries, which did not reach the level of global average emissions in 1990, are allowed to increase emissions until the average is reached. But by latest 2015 these countries, too, have decreasing pathways and 60 years to reach net zero. These pathways start from the global average.
Renewable Energy
These data are given in per cent of Total Primary Energy Supply (TPES) and includes hydro energy, consistent with the respective CCPI indicator. As global distribution of Renewables (especially solar and wind) only started in the 2000s, the pathways in this category start in 2010. All countries have an equal goal: 100% Renewables in 2050, each starting from its 2010 value.
Energy Use
Here, the Primary Energy Supply per capita is shown. All pathways for this category start at country’s 1990 values and meet at a level of 60 gigajoules per capita in 2050.
For 2°C and 1.5°C scenarios, a decrease in emissions by reducing the (growth in) energy use is as crucial as deploying renewable (or other low-carbon) technologies. We analysed the scenario database of the IPCC Sixth Assessment report to define the level of energy use per capita compatible with Well-Below-2°C pathways.
From the scenarios available, we observe that the total amount of global energy use per capita must be reduced by roughly 20% between 2020 and 2050, with a margin of uncertainty. We therefore chose the well-below-2° compatible benchmark to be approximately 60 gigajoules per capita in total primary energy supply in 2050 (TPES).