Climate Change Performance Index

• 1. Introduction

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  The Climate Change Performance Index exists because no country on Earth is doing enough to prevent dangerous climate change. That is not an opinion from an advocacy group. It is the official finding of the index itself, published annually since 2005. And because of that finding, the top three spots in every ranking have been left empty on purpose. The country that earns the number four slot is the best performer in the world, according to the index. As of the most recent editions, that country is Denmark.

  The index was created by Germanwatch e.V., a German environmental and development organisation. It evaluates the climate protection performance of 63 countries plus the European Union, a group collectively responsible for more than 90 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Published each year at the UN Climate Change Conference, it aims to bring transparency to international climate politics. What goes into that score? How did Denmark end up at the top? And what does it mean that even the best performers fall short of what the Paris Agreement requires?

• 2. How the Score Works

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  Germanwatch revised the methodology in 2017 to bring it in line with the Paris Agreement, which was adopted in 2015. That revision added something important: a measure of whether a country's plans for 2030 are compatible with limiting warming to 2 degrees Celsius.

  Each country is assessed across 14 indicators grouped into four categories. Greenhouse gas emissions carries the most weight, accounting for 40 percent of the total score. Renewable energy and energy use each account for 20 percent. Climate policy makes up the remaining 20 percent.

  The first three categories each contain four equally weighted indicators. Those four indicators look at a country's current emissions level, its trend over the previous five years, whether its current performance is compatible with the 2-degree target, and whether its 2030 commitments are on track to meet that target.

  The climate policy category works differently. Its two indicators draw on a comprehensive research study conducted each year by climate experts from non-governmental organisations, universities, and think tanks inside the countries being rated. Those experts fill out a questionnaire rating their own government's most important climate measures. The ratings run from very low to very high. That combination of quantitative data and in-country expert judgment gives the index its distinctive character, and those judgments are compiled by Germanwatch in cooperation with the NewClimate Institute and Climate Action Network International, with financial support from the Barthel Foundation.

• 3. The Unoccupied Podium

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  Starting with the 2009 edition, the index has left the first, second, and third places permanently blank. The reasoning is direct: no country has yet achieved a performance across all indicators that qualifies as very high, and no country has met the requirements to keep warming well below 2 degrees Celsius as the Paris Agreement demands.

  This decision to leave the top spots empty is more than a symbolic gesture. It tells every government that even the world's best-performing nations are not on course. Denmark, which holds fourth place in the most recent editions, earns that position by outperforming every other country while still falling short of what the science requires.

  The index covers 63 countries and the EU, but one notable absence from recent editions is Ukraine. Germanwatch stopped evaluating Ukraine's performance beginning with the 2023 index because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The decision reflects the practical impossibility of gathering reliable data and expert assessments under conditions of active conflict.

• 4. Leaders and Laggards

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  In the 2023 edition, Denmark held fourth place, followed by Sweden and Chile. At the other end of the table, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Kazakhstan occupied the last three positions.

  The 2024 rankings kept Denmark in fourth, but the countries behind it shifted. Estonia climbed to fifth and the Philippines rose to sixth. At the bottom, the United Arab Emirates joined Iran and Saudi Arabia as the three worst performers.

  By the 2026 edition, Denmark remained in fourth place with a score of 80.52. The results available in German, English, French, and Spanish illustrate regional patterns: Nordic countries and some developing nations often perform better than major fossil fuel producers and exporters, whose bottom-of-the-table positions reflect both their emissions levels and their climate policy ratings.

  The Philippines reaching fifth place in 2024 is one of the more striking data points in recent editions, signalling that high-income industrial economies do not automatically lead in climate performance.

• 5. Purpose and Reach

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  Germanwatch designed the index specifically to enhance transparency in international climate politics, and publication at the annual UN Climate Change Conference ensures maximum visibility among the negotiators and governments who attend.

  The index's reach extends beyond English. Key results are published in German, English, French, and Spanish, broadening access across the countries being evaluated. That multilingual release is a deliberate choice given that the index covers countries across Europe, Latin America, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.

  The cooperation structure behind the index brings together three distinct organisations. Germanwatch leads the project, NewClimate Institute contributes analytical capacity, and Climate Action Network International connects the work to the broader global advocacy community. The Barthel Foundation provides financial support. That combination of a German research body, a climate policy institute, and the world's largest climate network gives the CCPI an unusual degree of credibility and distribution across the international policy landscape. The index was first published in 2005, meaning it predates the Paris Agreement by a decade and has tracked national performance across multiple eras of international climate negotiations.