TEHRAN - Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI), which evaluates and compares the climate protection performance of 60 countries and the European Union (EU), has placed Iran in the “very low” category, 62nd among 64 countries in its 2022 ranking.

Slightly declining from last year’s CCPI (59th among 61 countries), the Islamic Republic of Iran is now ranked 62nd and, thus, in the CCPI 2022 bottom four in the group of countries that collectively account for more than 92% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

A look into what comprises the overall very low performance finds a similar picture to last year, in very low performance in the GHG Emissions, Renewable Energy, and Energy Use categories. Iran performs very low in almost all indicators of these three categories, indicating both very poor current levels and no signs of improvement in the near future.

In national climate policy, Iran receives a medium rating. Regarding renewable energy, the country does have measures to strengthen technologies, including feed-in tariffs and financial support for the private sector.

In the framework of the Development Plan, Iran also plans to increase the share of renewables to 5% of the country’s capacity (in 2019, 0.7% of the total primary energy supply was generated from renewable sources) and reduce gas flaring by 90% by the end of 2021.

In this regard, however, only slow progress in renewable energy expansion can be observed. Moreover, the country had plans to cut energy consumption in the building sector by 5% in 2021.

The CCPI experts criticize these mitigation measures as too unambitious and short-term-oriented. Furthermore, not even the mentioned goals are expected to be achieved, because of weak implementation.

Methodology

Rankings are based on each country’s overall score. This is calculated from the individual scores in four categories, consisting of 14 indicators.

No country performs well enough in all index categories to achieve an overall very high rating. The first three overall positions, therefore, remain empty. So, the top countries, namely Denmark, Sweden, and Norway rank 4th to 6th in the table.

The results show that, even if all countries were as committed as the current frontrunners, efforts would still be insufficient to prevent hazardous climate change.

The countries with high rankings also have no reason to ease up. Even greater efforts and actions by governments are needed to set the world on track to keep global warming well below a 2°C increase. Even better, 1.5°C

The CCPI aims to deliver a comprehensive and balanced evaluation of the diverse countries evaluated. It uses 14 indicators (outer circle) and the following four categories: GHG Emissions (40% of overall score), Renewable Energy (20% of overall score), Energy Use (20% of overall score), and Climate Policy (20% of overall score).

Around 80% of the assessment is based on quantitative data from internationally recognized institutions, namely International Energy Agency (IEA), PRIMAP, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the national GHG inventories submitted to the UNFCCC. CCPI 2022 is calculated using data recorded in 2019, as this is the most recent data available.

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.

The remaining 20% of the assessment is based on the CCPI’s globally unique Climate Policy section. With this category, the index covers the most recent developments in national climate policy frameworks. The quantitative data alone cannot project these.

This category’s indicators are National Climate Policy and International Climate Policy. The qualitative data for these indicators is assessed annually in a comprehensive study. A performance rating provided by climate and energy policy experts from the evaluated countries serves as the basis for this.

This category considers that climate protection measures taken by governments often take several years to impact GHG Emissions, Renewable Energy, and Energy Use.

The CCPI methodology was revised in 2017 to fully incorporate the results of the negotiations of the Paris Agreement. Since then, the CCPI measures have been partly based on the promises the countries themselves formulated in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

The index now evaluates the 2030 targets and the well-below-2°C compatibility of countries’ current levels and targets in the GHG Emissions, Renewable Energies, and Energy Use categories. The new methodological design also covers all greenhouse gas emissions.

MG