India maintained its 10th rank and continued to be among the top-performing countries within the Group of 20 in the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) 2022 report.

Published annually since 2005, the CCPI is an independent monitoring tool for tracking the climate protection performance of 60 countries and the European Union.

No countries ranked in the top three overall positions

The climate protection performance of those countries, which together account for 92% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, is assessed in four categories: GHG emissions, renewable energy, energy use, and climate policy. No country performs well enough in all index categories to achieve an overall very high rating in the CCPI. So, the top three places in the overall ranking remain empty.

With the United Kingdom (7th), India (10th), Germany (13th), and France (17th), four G20 countries are among the high-performing countries in CCPI 2022.

India’s performance

The report pointed out that India maintained a strong performance like last year. It rated the performance of India ‘high’ in the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, energy use, and climate policy categories.

Under the climate policy indicators in the report, the national emissions targets and sectoral targets and their specific implementation are assessed. Of the 18 countries, France, China, the United Kingdom, and India earned a high rating in the Climate Policy category.

The report said that no Indian state had announced a clear coal phase-out plan. The pipeline of proposed coal power plants is the world’s second-largest and one of the few that has increased since 2015.

The report finds that India is already on track to meet its 2030 emissions target —which is compatible with a well below the 2°C scenario— close to achieving its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) target of a 40% share for non-fossil fuel installed power capacity by 2030, and on course for a targeted 33 to 35% reduction in energy intensity by the same year.

According to the report, India should set a net-zero target for 2050 and leverage its domestic success on renewables and emissions intensity into international initiatives. More could be done to strengthen policies on climate vulnerability, adaptation, and resilience building. Equity and social development should also feature more strongly in the energy transition.

The report also stresses India’s ambitious renewable energy policies, such as its targets of renewable electricity capacity of 450 GW and a 30% electric vehicle share by 2030.

However, the report suggests that some policies are disjointed and lack detail on implementation and long-term targets. Although India receives an overall high performance, the report argues that it should set an explicit net zero target for 2050 and leverage its domestic success on renewables and emissions intensity into international initiatives.

However, at the recently concluded COP26 Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that India aims to become a net-zero economy by 2070 and has set a target of installing a non-fossil energy capacity of 500 GW by 2030. He also said that India would meet 50% of its electricity requirements from renewable energy by 2030.

Additionally, more could be done to strengthen policies on climate vulnerability, adaptation, and resilience building. Equity and social development should also feature more strongly in the energy transition.