Turkey ranks 42nd among 60 countries in climate protection index

Turkey has ranked 42nd among 60 countries in an international rating index that measures countries' actions on protecting the environment. Published annually since 2005, the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) aims to enhance transparency in international climate politics and enables the comparison of climate protection efforts by individual countries.

Tuesday November 09 2021 11:56 pm

Activists attend the Global Climate Strike in Istanbul on Sept 24, 2021.

Duvar English

Turkey is lagging around the tail end of low-performing countries when it comes to tackling emissions, according to the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) -- an independent monitoring tool for tracking the climate protection performance of 60 countries and the EU.

The index published yearly since 2005, ranked Turkey 42nd in 2021, as the country maintained its spot from last year, Deutsche Welle's Turkish service reported on Nov. 9.

No country has performed well enough in all CCPI index categories to achieve an overall very high rating, the organization said, leaving the highest three spots blank and, instead, placing Denmark in fourth as the best of the bunch.

In the renewable energy category, the organization gave Turkey a “high” rating, but gave a very “low” rating in the categories of greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption and climate policies.

Turkey performed better compared to last year in the renewable energy parameter, gaining two spots and finding itself in the 12th ranking.

According to an evaluation on the basis of greenhouse gas emissions, Turkey ranked very low in the list again, finding itself in the 36th spot.

As for the energy consumption parameter, Turkey lost seven spots and found itself 53rd in the ranking among “very-low performing” countries.

Turkey also displayed a “very low performance” in the parameter of government policies to tackle climate change. Its ranking was 58th in this category last year, whereas the country climbed up the ladder to reach 50th place this year.

Turkish parliament ratified the Paris climate agreement on Oct. 6, making it the last G20 country to do so, after holding off for years due to what it saw as injustices in its responsibilities as part of the agreement.

Turkey has been a signatory to the Paris agreement since April 2016. But Ankara had not ratified the deal, arguing that it should not be considered a developed country as part of the agreement, which gives it more responsibility, as Turkey is historically responsible for a very small share of carbon emissions.