2021 BACKGROUND AND METHODOLOGY

2021

 Jan Burck
 Ursula Hagen
 BACKGROUND
 AND METHODOLOGY
 Christoph Bals
 Niklas Höhne
Leonardo Nascimento

CCPI Background and Methodology GERMANWATCH

Imprint
Authors:
Jan Burck, Ursula Hagen, Christoph Bals, Niklas Höhne and Leonardo Nascimento

With the Support of: Björk Lucas and Sophia Binz

Layout: Dietmar Putscher, Björk Lucas

Editing: Janina Longwitz and Hanna Fuhrmann

Publishers:

Germanwatch e.V.
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Internet: www.germanwatch.org
E-mail: info@germanwatch.org

NewClimate Institute
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Phone +49 (0)221 / 99 983 300, Fax -19 Phone +49 (0)30 / 20 849 27 00
Internet: www.newclimate.org
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Phone: +96 (0)11 447 192
Internet: www.climatenetwork.org

December 2020

This publication can be downloaded at:
www.ccpi.org/methodology

This publication is financially supported by the Barthel Foundation and Stiftung Mercator.
Germanwatch is responsible for the content of this publication.

 2

CCPI Background and Methodology GERMANWATCH

 Summary
 The Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) is an independent monitoring tool for tracking
 countries' climate protection performance. It aims to enhance transparency in international
 climate politics and enables comparison of climate protection efforts and progress made by
 individual countries. This publication explains how the CCPI 2021 is calculated. Furthermore,
 it lists the literature and data sources used for these calculations.

Content
Foreword: Enhancing Transparency in International Climate Politics .............................................. 4

1 Methodology ................................................................................................................................. 5

1.1 GHG Emissions (40% of Overall Score) ............................................................................................................... 8

1.2 Renewable Energy (20% of Overall Score) ...................................................................................................... 12

1.3 Energy Use (20% of Overall Score) ..................................................................................................................... 16

1.4 Climate Policy (20% of Overall Score) ............................................................................................................... 19

2 Calculation and Results ............................................................................................................... 21

3 Data Sources and Literature....................................................................................................... 23

4 Annex ............................................................................................................................................ 25

 3

CCPI Background and Methodology GERMANWATCH

Foreword: Enhancing Transparency in
International Climate Politics
Getting a clear understanding of national the CCPI every year at the UN Climate
and international climate policy is difficult, as Change Conference, thus creating as much
the numerous countries which need to be attention as possible in the observed coun-
taken stock of, each have various initial po- tries and pushing forward the discussion on
sitions and interests. To untangle the knot of climate change. The astounding press echo
differentiated responsibilities as well as kept to the CCPI shows its relevance: Both at the
and broken promises and to encourage national and international level, numerous
steps towards an effective international cli- media report about the outcomes and on
mate policy, Germanwatch developed the how well their country performed in the lat-
Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI). est edition of the index. Awareness was also
As of now, the index compares 57 countries raised in politics. Many delegates at the cli-
+ the European Union (EU) that together are mate conferences as well as national gov-
responsible for more than 90% of global ernment institutions inform themselves on
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. ways of increasing their countries’ rank.

The climate change performance is evalu- By simplifying complex data, the index does
ated according to standardised criteria and not only address experts, but everyone. We
the results are ranked. With reaching the would like to emphasise that so far no coun-
Paris Agreement in 2015, every country has try has received the overall rating “very
put forward own mitigation targets and the high”. That is why, up until now, the first
global community emphasised the need to three ranks of the CCPI have been left open.
limit global temperature rise well below 2°C We want to use the picture of an empty po-
or even 1.5°C. The CCPI evaluates how far dium to stress that not one country in the
countries have come in achieving this goal. It listed in the CCPI has done enough to pre-
helps to access and judge the countries' cli- vent dangerous climate change. We hope
mate policy, their recent development, cur- that the index provides an incentive to sig-
rent levels and well-below-2°C compatibility nificantly change that and step up efforts. As
of GHG emissions, renewable energies, en- a tool for climate protection information and
ergy use (as an indication of their perfor- communication, the index is also available
mance in increasing energy efficiency) and online for general public interest at:
their targets for 2030. www.ccpi.org

The component indicators provide all actors The following publication explains the back-
with an instrument to probe in more detail ground and the methodology of the Climate
the areas that need to see movement. As an Change Performance Index.
independent monitoring tool of countries'
climate protection performance, it aims at As has been the case with the previous edi-
enhancing transparency in international cli- tions, the CCPI 2021 would not have been
mate politics and enables the comparability possible without the help of about 350 cli-
of climate protection efforts and progress mate experts from all over the world, who
made by individual countries. With this in evaluated their countries’ climate policy. We
mind, the NewClimate Institute, the Climate would like to express our deep gratitude and
Action Network and Germanwatch present thank all of them.

 4

CCPI Background and Methodology GERMANWATCH

1 Methodology
The climate change performance is as- Current Level" and the "2°C-Compatibility of
sessed in four categories: 2030 Target". These twelve indicators are
 complemented by two indicators under the
1. "GHG Emissions" (40% of overall score);
 category "Climate Policy", measuring the
2. "Renewable Energy" (20% of overall country's performance regarding its national
 score);
 climate policy framework and implementa-
3. "Energy Use" (20% of overall score); tion as well as regarding international cli-
4. "Climate Policy" (20% of overall score). mate diplomacy.
A country's performance in each of the cat-
 Figure 1 gives an overview of the composi-
egories 1-3 is defined by its performance re-
 tion and weighting of the four categories and
garding four different equally weighted indi-
 14 indicators defining a country's overall
cators, reflecting four different dimensions
 score in the CCPI. For details on the consti-
of the category: "Current Level", "Past Trend
 tution of a country's scoring, please see
(5-year trend)", "2°C-Compatibility of the chapter 3 "Calculation and Results".

Figure 1: Components of the CCPI: Fourteen indicators (outer circle) in four categories
(inner circle)

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CCPI Background and Methodology GERMANWATCH

The index rewards policies which aim for cli- For each of these indicators the countries
mate protection, both at the national level receive a rating between “very high” and
and in the context of international climate di- “very low”. The indicator-specific limits for
plomacy. Whether or not countries are stim- the rating can be found in the section focus-
ulating and striving towards a better perfor- sing on the very indicator.
mance can be deduced from their scores in
the "Climate Policy" indicators. Wheth- Logic followed by the CCPI
erthese policies are effectively imple-
mented, can be read – with a time lag of a
few years – in the country's improving scores Energy Use
 and
in the categories "Renewable Energy" and Policy
 Renewable
 GHG
 Emissions
 Energy
"Energy Use" and lastly in positive develop-
ments in the category "GHG Emissions" (s.
figure 2). Following this logic, the index takes Data Sources and Adaptions
into account the progress in the three areas
 The CCPI is using the PRIMAP 1 data base to
ultimately showing their effect in a country’s
 assess all GHG emissions arising across all
GHG emissions performance with a
 sectors. As the PRIMAP data base does not
weighting of 20% each:
 cover Land Use, Land Use Change and For-
- an effective climate policy, estry (LULUCF) emissions, the LULUCF
- an expansion of renewable energy, emissions are taken from FAO 2, the national
- improvements in energy efficiency and inventory submissions 2018 3 and the bian-
 thus control over domestic energy use. nual country reports 4. For all energy-related
 data in the categories "Renewable Energy"
This weighting scheme leaves the CCPI re- and "Energy Use", the index continues to use
sponsive enough to adequately capture re- data from the International Energy Agency
cent changes in climate policy and newly (IEA) 5, generally following the definitions
achieved improvements on the way to re- given by the IEA. However, the CCPI assess-
duce GHG emissions. As GHG emissions re- ment excludes non-energy use from all data
ductions are what needs to be achieved for related to total primary energy supply (TPES)
preventing dangerous climate change, this as well as traditional biomass from all num-
category weighs highest in the index (40%). bers provided by the IEA for both, TPES
Measuring both, emissions trends and levels numbers and the assessment of renewable
within this category, the CCPI provides a energy. 6
comprehensive picture of a country's perfor-
mance, neither too generously rewarding The evaluation of the countries' mitigation
only countries, which are reducing emissions targets is based on their Nationally Deter-
from a very high level, nor countries, which mined Contributions (NDCs), communicated
still have low levels but a vast increase. This to the UNFCCC. 7 Since clear guidelines and
combination of looking at emissions from frameworks for the framing of NDCs are not
different perspectives and since 2017 also existent, the countries' targets partly had to
taking into account a country's performance be inter-/extrapolated to 2030 in order to
in relation to its specific well-below-2°C assure comparability (for details, please see
pathway ensures a balanced evaluation of a chapters 2.1.4 for GHG reduction targets,
country's performance. 2.2.4 for RE targets and 2.3.4 for energy use

1
 PRIMAP (annually updated) of biomass (explicitly listed in the IEA statistics)
2
 FAO (annually updated) strongly coincides with traditional use of biomass, es-
3
 UNFCCC (2018-a) pecially in developing countries. In industrialised
4
 UNFCCC (2018-b) countries this quantity is negligible in most cases.
5
 IEA (annually updated-a) 7
 UNFCCC (2018-c)
6
 Since the IEA does not explicitly identify traditional bi-
 omass as such, it is assumed that the residential use

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CCPI Background and Methodology GERMANWATCH

targets). Evaluations of countries' perfor- and energy experts from the country's civil
mance in climate policy is based on an annu- societies (for details, please see chapter
ally updated survey among national climate 2.4).

 Box 1: Comparability of Different Editions of the CCPI
 An index that compares the climate change performance of different countries over several
 years encourages comparing a country’s ranking position to the past years. We need to point
 out that three factors limit the comparability across CCPI editions.

 Revision of Historic Data in Databases

 The first reason is limited comparability of the underlying data. The calculation of the CCPI
 is partly based on different databases by the International Energy Agency (IEA) and from
 PRIMAP. In many cases the IEA and others have revised historic data retroactively in later
 editions, if it needed to complete former results, e.g. due to new measuring sources. Con-
 sequently, it might not be possible to reproduce the exact results of one year with updated
 data from the same year but taken from a later edition of the databases.

 Survey Respondents

 The second factor that leads to limited comparability is that our expert pool providing the
 data basis for the “Climate Policy” category is continuously being extended and altered. We
 strive to increase the number of experts so that new evaluations of the countries’ policies
 depict a more differentiated result. At the same time, some experts are not available any-
 more, e.g. due to a change of job. When the people acting as the judges of a country’s policy
 change, differences in judgements can occur.

 Methodological Changes

 Thirdly, in 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 methodol-
 ogy 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 temper-
 ature 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.

 The CCPI G20 Edition of July 2017 and the CCPI 2018 were the first index publications based
 on the new methodology. The CCPI 2021 edition (for 57 selected countries and the EU)
 ensures a comparability with the previous editions (CCPI 2018, CCPI 2019, CCP! 2020).

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CCPI Background and Methodology GERMANWATCH

1.1 GHG Emissions (40% of Overall Score)
The greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of Since the CCPI edition 2018, the index co-
each country are what ultimately influences vers all major categories of GHG emissions.
the climate. Therefore, they may be per- This includes energy-related CO2 emissions,
ceived as the most significant measure in the CO2 emissions from land use, land use
success of climate policies. That is why the change and forestry (LULUCF), methane
“GHG Emissions” category contributes 40% (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and the so-called
to the overall score of a country. F-gases hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), per-
 fluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulphur hexafluo-
However, the diversity of countries evalu- ride (SF6) for which we use data from
ated in the CCPI is enormous. It is therefore
 PRIMAP provided by the Potsdam Institute
indispensable that more than just one per- for Climate Impact Research (PIK) 8. As the
spective be taken on the emissions level and
 PRIMAP data base does not cover LULUCF
how the GHG emissions of a given country emissions, the LULUCF emissions are taken
have developed in the recent past.
 from FAO 9, the national inventory submis-
The “GHG Emissions” category thus is com- sions 2018 10 and the biannual country re-
posed of four indicators: "Current Level" and ports 11 submitted to UNFCCC.
"Past Trend" of per capita GHG emissions
are complemented by two indicators, com- With using overall GHG-related instead of
paring the countries' current level and 2030 only energy-related CO2 emissions as in pre-
emissions reduction targets to its country- vious editions of the CCPI, the index now re-
specific well-below-2°C pathway. All of flects a more comprehensive picture of the
these indicators are weighted equally with actual mitigation performance of a country,
10% each. taking into account that emissions from
 other sectors play a crucial role in some of
 the evaluated countries.

8
 PRIMAP (annually updated) 10
 UNFCCC (2018-a)
9
 FAO (annually updated) 11
 UNFCCC (2018-b)

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CCPI Background and Methodology GERMANWATCH

 Box 2: Emissions Accounting and Trade
 The currently prevailing way of accounting for national emissions encompasses all emissions
 emerging from domestic production using a territorial system boundary while excluding in-
 ternational trade. In this sense, the nation producing the emissions is also the one held ac-
 countable, no matter if those emissions are closely connected to an outflow of the produced
 goods to other countries. Considering that national governments can only exert political in-
 fluence on domestic production but have no power over production-related emissions
 abroad, this conception seems plausible at first sight.

 In the course of globalisation, international trade has caused an increasing spatial separation
 between the production and consumption of goods. Thus, on the one hand, China, Thailand
 and South Africa, who belong to the group of high-producers and greenhouse gas exporters,
 currently report emission levels that are considered too high. On the other hand, France,
 Switzerland and the USA are large importers of CO2-intensive goods but the emissions im-
 ported are not charged to their account.

 With increasing international trade influencing national economies as well as related emis-
 sions, an alternative emission accounting approach has emerged from scientific research. In
 contrast to the production-based approach, it is focused on emissions caused by national
 consumption. As a basis for calculating nation-level emissions this account uses the total of
 national consumption as the sum of all goods produced, less the ones exported, plus the
 ones imported by a country. Measuring emissions based on what is consumed would lead
 to an increase of the absolute amount of CO2 for several of the industrialised countries, in-
 duced by their emission intensive trade record. In contrast, countries like China and other
 emerging economies have proactively attracted production industries and continue to do
 so. In general, those countries also profit from their exports of emission intensive goods and
 should therefore not be entirely relieved of their responsibility.

 The evaluation of emission data from the production and consumption of goods and services
 as presented in the graph in figure 3 by Caldeira and Davis (2011: 8533) shows significant
 differences between consumption-based and production-based data, while their develop-
 ment is clearly related. Generally, the amount of emissions embodied in global trade is con-
 stantly growing, increasing the importance of understanding and acknowledging consump-
 tion-based emission data. At the same time, the graph implies a high level of aggregation,
 wiping away diversity within the aggregate groups of developed and developing countries.
 Acknowledging this diversity, however, would require far more detailed analyses.

 This CCPI is calculated with production emissions only.

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CCPI Background and Methodology GERMANWATCH

1.1.1 Current Level of GHG Emissions per Capita
Even with an ambitious climate policy, the veloped countries. The level of current emis-
level of current per capita GHG emissions sions therefore is a means of taking into ac-
usually only changes in a longer-term per- count each country’s development situation
spective. Thus, it is less an indicator of re- and thus addressing the equity issue.
cent performance of climate protection than
an indicator of the respective starting point For a maximum of 2.5 CO2te/Capita, a coun-
 try receives a “very high” ranking for this in-
of the countries being investigated. From an
equity perspective, it is not fair to use the dicator. Emissions of up to 5.5 or 8
 CO2te/Capita receive either a “high” or “me-
same yardstick of climate protection perfor-
mance on countries in transition and on de- dium” rating, while more than 11 CO2te/Cap-
 ita represent a “very low” rating.

1.1.2 Past Trend of GHG Emissions per Capita
The indicator describing the recent develop- Only countries with a decrease of emissions
ment of GHG emissions accounts for 10% of by more than 7% over the past 5 years will
a country’s overall score in the CCPI. To re- receive a “high” rating, while only a decrease
flect the development in this category, the of at least 20% means a “very high rating”. If
CCPI evaluates the trend over a five-year emissions are even increasing, a country re-
period of greenhouse gases per capita. The ceives a ”low” rating whereas countries are
indicator measuring recent development in categorized/rated “very low”, if emissions
emissions is comparatively responsive to ef- have increased by more than 5% over the
fective climate policy, and is therefore an im- past 5 years.
portant indicator of a country’s performance.

1.1.3 Current Level of GHG Emissions per Capita Compared to a
 Well-Below-2°C Compatible Pathway
The benchmark for a well-below-2°C com- GHG neutrality in the second half of the cen-
patible pathway in the index category “GHG tury, which is in close alignment with the
Emissions” is based on a global scenario of long-term goals of the Paris Agreement. To
 stay within these limits, GHG emissions need

 Figure 4: GHG emissions: Actual pathway (green) vs. well-below-2°C target
 pathway (orange). Example of an over-performing country.
 Illustration: Germanwatch| NewClimate Institute

 10

CCPI Background and Methodology GERMANWATCH

to be drastically reduced, a peak needs to be start on this path as of 1990, while develop-
reached by 2020 and CO2 emissions need to ing countries do so once they reach the
decline to net zero by around 2050. 12 global average per capita emissions. Hence,
 some developing countries can temporarily
The calculation of individual country target increase their emissions without letting the
pathways is based on the common but dif- overall limit of well below 2°C out of sight.
ferentiated convergence approach (CDC). 13
It is based on the principle of “common but For this indicator we measure the distance
differentiated responsibilities and respective of the country's current (2018) level of per
capabilities” laid forth in the Framework capita emissions to this pathway. If a country
Convention on Climate Change. “Common” undercuts its pathway, it will receive a “high”
because all countries need to reduce their rating or even a “very high” if the difference
per capita emissions to the same level (here is above 3 CO2te/Capita. “Medium” and “low”
net zero) within the same time-period. “Dif- ratings are defined by a difference of up to 2
ferentiated” because developed countries and 4 CO2te/Capita to the pathway. Any-
 thing above is a “very low” performance.

1.1.4 GHG Emissions Reduction 2030 Target Compared to a
 Well-Below-2°C Compatible Pathway
The CCPI also evaluates a country's 2030 base year to obtain the emissions per capita
mitigation target, i.e. its emissions reduction in both years – that allows for the calculation
plans for 2030. We do so by measuring the of growth factors. The CAT country assess-
distance between this target and the coun- ments are updated up to twice a year, so it
try's pathway determined using the common is the preferred source. If a country is not in-
but differentiated convergence approach cluded in the CAT analysis the respective
(see 2.1.3). This year for the first time, this factsheet is used to quantify the emissions.
difference is measured in relative terms ra- We apply the resulting growth factors to the
ther than in absolute terms. Thus, countries CCPI tool emission values in the base year,
with high per capita emissions (e.g. Aus- to arrive at a target value that is consistent
tralia) are scoring worse than last year in this with the emissions dataset used in the other
indicator. On the other hand, countries with CCPI indicators.
low per capita emissions score better than
last year as a smaller absolute gap to their We apply the growth rates from the CAT and
 factsheets, which exclude LULUCF, to emis-
pathway can mean a higher relative gap to
their target. sions from CCPI, which include LULUCF. We
 choose this approach due to the lack of con-
GHG targets are usually not presented in ab- sistent LULUCF projections across all the
solute terms when communicated by coun- countries in the index. LULUCF emissions
tries in their NDCs, or other formal commit- estimates vary strongly between different
ments. Targets must often be interpreted to datasets and the methodologies used for
arrive at absolute GHG emission limits for those estimates. Our current approach has
2030. We take other studies, which have the underlying assumption that the growth
done this interpretation, as a starting point of the LULUCF sector is equivalent to the
for our quantification. We take absolute growth in the other sectors of the economy.
emissions from the sources (Climate Action
Tracker (CAT) 14 or NDC & INDC Factsheets
by PIK and the University of Melbourne 15), di-
vide this by the population in both target and

12
 IPCC (2018) 14
 Climate Action Tracker (2019)
13
 Höhne, N. et al. (2006) 15
 Meinshausen, M. and Alexander, R. (2017)

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CCPI Background and Methodology GERMANWATCH

Both the CAT and the factsheets use UN calculate targets including LULUCF. This is
population medium fertility variant projec- the case for Brazil and Indonesia.
tions, which we use to adjust the absolute
emissions to per capita. A “high“ or “very high” rating can be
 achieved with a target below the country’s
Some countries have updated their targets pathway. If the difference is even above 1
but are not analysed separately by the CAT: CO2te/Capita, a country will receive the best
France, Germany, Portugal, United Kingdom rating. Targets with a difference of up to 2.5
and Chinese Taipei. In these cases, we CO2te/Capita to the pathway are assessed
quantify the absolute emissions level in as a “medium” performance and a difference
2030 individually using the respective target of up to 5 CO2te/Capita or even above as
definitions as described in the annex. In “low” and “very low”.
countries where the LULUCF sector is re-
sponsible for a large share of emissions, we

1.2 Renewable Energy (20% of Overall Score)
Since 2016 was the first year with a constant tential for emissions reduction. This cate-
CO2 concentration in the atmosphere above gory, therefore, contributes with 20% to the
400 parts per million, swift action is re- overall rating of a country, within which each
quired. 16 Most of the researchers anticipate of the four indicators accounts for 5%.
that a permanent transgression of this
 In the absence of data assessing traditional
threshold will lead to a temperature rise
 biomass only, all renewable energy data are
above 2°C. 17 Therefore, a constant expan-
 calculated without residential biomass for
sion of renewable energies and a decline in
 heat production, in order to prevent disad-
fossil fuel combustion are essential.
 vantages for countries increasing their ef-
Substituting fossil fuels with renewable en- forts to replace the unsustainable use of tra-
ergies is one of the most prominent strate- ditional biomass in their energy mix.
gies towards a transformed economic sys-
 The recent developments and the 2°C com-
tem that is compatible with limiting global
warming well below 2°C. It is equally im- patibility of the current level exclude hydro-
 power, while values for the current level and
portant to increase energy efficiency, lead-
ing to a reduction in global energy use. For the 2°C compatibility of the 2030 target in-
 clude hydropower (see Box 3).
example, in the year 2015, renewable ener-
gies in Germany accounted for approxi- Furthermore, all values for total primary en-
mately 14.9% of total final energy consump- ergy supply (TPES) integrated in the CCPI
tion. Calculations show that deployment of exclude non-energy use, such as oil usage
renewable energies resulted in a net avoid- for other reasons than combustion, in order
ance of 156 mt CO2 in 2015. 18 This shows that not to distort the picture and avoid disad-
a targeted increase in the share of renewa- vantages for countries with e.g. a larger
ble energies can make a vital contribution to chemical industry which is usually predomi-
climate change protection efforts. The “Re- nantly export-oriented, leading to the alloca-
newable Energy” category assesses tion problems mentioned in Box 2.
whether a country is making use of this po-

16
 Betts, R.A. et al. (2016) 18
 BMWi (2015)
17
 OECD (2012)

 12

CCPI Background and Methodology GERMANWATCH

1.2.1 Current Share of Renewable Energy Sources per Total
 Primary Energy Supply (TPES)
To recognise countries such as Brazil that For a minimum of 35%, a country receives a
have already managed to gain a major share “very high” ranking for this indicator. A share
of their total energy supply from renewable of at least 20% or 10% receives either a
sources and therefore have less potential to “high” or “medium” rating, while less than 5%
further extend their share of renewable en- represent a “very low” rating.
ergies, 5% of the overall ranking is attributed
to the share of renewable energies in the to-
tal primary energy supply. 19

1.2.2 Past Trend of Energy Supply from Renewable Energy
 Sources per TPES
The second indicator of a country's perfor- adequately reward countries that concen-
mance in the “Renewable Energy” category trate on more sustainable solutions, it ex-
shows the recent development of energy cludes this technology from the underlying
supply from renewable sources over a five- data and therefore focuses on "new" renew-
year period. Like the other indicators in this able energy sources, such as solar, wind and
category, this dynamic indicator accounts geothermal energy.
for 5% of the overall CCPI score. To
 Only countries with an increase of the share
acknowledge the risks surrounding an ex-
 of renewables by more than 30% over the
pansion of hydropower (see box 3) and to
 past 5 years will receive a “high” rating, while
 only an increase of at least 75% means a

19
 See Box 3: Hydropower and Human Rights Violation,
 p.14

 13

CCPI Background and Methodology GERMANWATCH

“very high rating”. If the share of renewables mean an increase in the share of renewables
is even decreasing, a country receives a of at least 15% or 5%.
”very low” rating. “Medium” and ”low” ratings

 Box 3: Hydropower and Human Rights Violation
 One of the largest contributors to renewable energy supply is the generation of hydropower.
 However, many large hydropower projects are considered to be not sustainable. Large hy-
 dropower projects often have profound negative impacts on local communities, wildlife and
 vegetation in the river basins and sometimes even produce additional greenhouse gas emis-
 sions where water catchments are particularly shallow.

 This causes a double challenge to the CCPI. Firstly, countries that already meet a large share
 of their energy demand with supply from renewable energies – often old and potentially non-
 sustainable hydropower – can hardly raise their production in relative terms as easily as a
 country that starts with near-zero renewable energy supply. On the contrary, if a country
 already covers nearly 100% of its demand via renewable energy supply and at the same time
 increases efficiency, the total renewable energy supply might even fall. In such an extreme
 case a country would receive a very low CCPI score in the “Renewable Energy” category
 while demonstrating exemplary climate change performance.

 Secondly, if the CCPI fully included large hydropower, it would reward to some degree the
 development of unsustainable dam projects when an increase in renewable energy supply
 is solely driven by such projects. Such an approach is not regarded as adequate climate
 protection by the authors of the CCPI.

 Unfortunately, data availability on the structure or even sustainability of hydropower gener-
 ation and a distinction between large non-sustainable projects and sustainable small-scale
 hydropower generation is insufficient. In its attempt to balance the extent of rewarding
 countries for expanding large-scale hydropower, the CCPI excludes all hydropower from
 two of four indicators in the “Renewable Energy” category. As a result, the recent develop-
 ments in renewable energy as well as the indicator that measures the current level of re-
 newables to a country's well-below-2°C pathway exclude hydropower, while the total val-
 ues of the current level and the indicator evaluating the 2030 renewably energy target in-
 clude hydropower.

 If data availability on large-scale and non-sustainable hydropower changes in the future, we
 will include these data and therefore exclude non-sustainable hydropower only from all four
 indicators.

 Non-sustainable approaches and human rights violations related to the expansion of renew-
 able energy are also increasingly affecting other renewable energy technologies. The drain
 of land resources for energy generation from biomass and the resulting conflict with land
 resources for food production is only one example of the complexity surrounding the nec-
 essary expansion of renewable energies. Also, both fields of conflict are increasingly being
 seen in reaction to the expansion of onshore wind power generation. The authors of the
 CCPI are well aware of the increasing importance of these developments and will continu-
 ously examine possibilities to acknowledge them in future editions of the ranking.

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CCPI Background and Methodology GERMANWATCH

1.2.3 Current Share of Renewables per TPES Compared to a
 Well-Below-2°C Compatible Pathway
The benchmark for a well-below-2°C com- reaching almost 100% renewable energy
patible pathway within the index category even with current technologies by mid-cen-
"Renewable Energy" is a share of 100% re- tury. 20 Many non-governmental organisa-
newable energy by 2050. The Paris Agree- tions therefore support a 100% renewable
ment requires net zero greenhouse gas target to set the right incentives for coun-
emissions in the second half of the century, tries in transforming their energy systems,
while energy-related emissions need to also taking into account the necessity to es-
reach zero already by the middle of the cen- tablish and follow a consistent approach to
tury. Renewable energy will play a significant sustainable development and inter-genera-
role in the transition. Accordingly, the CCPI tional justice.
continues to emphasise the necessity of
 If a country overshoots its pathway, it will re-
making progress in renewable energy, even
 ceive a “very high” rating, while “high” is an
if other low or zero carbon options which re-
 undercutting of up to 10%. “Medium” and
sult in other severe challenges could be
 “low” ratings are defined by a difference of
available (nuclear or carbon capture and
 up to 15% and 17.5% to the pathway. Any-
storage). Although the target is very ambi-
 thing above is a “very low” performance.
tious, studies emphasise the possibility of

Figure 6: Renewable energy pathway Illustration: Germanwatch | NewClimate Institute

1.2.4 Renewable Energy 2030 Target Compared to a Well-
 Below-2°C Compatible Pathway
The CCPI also evaluates the distance be- for 2030 and the country's desired pathway
tween a country's renewable energy targets from 2010 to 100% renewable energy in

20
 WWF et al. (2011)

 15

CCPI Background and Methodology GERMANWATCH

2050 (using a linear pathway for methodo- convert capacity targets into generation
logical reasons). targets, before the conversion to TPES.
 - Whenever a target is formulated for a
Comparing renewable energy targets is a year other than 2030, a 2030 value is
substantial challenge because countries put calculated by linear interpolation of the
forward their renewable energy targets in target share.
many ways, as there is an absence of uni- - All numbers for the current share of
form rules for such target setting. Some renewables in a country's energy supply
countries only have targets for subnational are taken from the IEA energy balances.
states, others have national targets. Some
define their targets in terms of installed ca- The table in the annex explains the approach
pacity rather than the share of renewables in chosen for each individual country including
the TPES. the main assumptions (see also the legend
In order to convert these different types of below the annex table for an explanation of
targets into a future share of renewable en- assumptions a to e).
ergy in the TPES, we proceeded as follows: A “very high“ rating can be achieved with a
- Targets provided as renewable energy target above the country’s pathway. If the
 targets as share of the TPES are taken difference is only up to 10%, a country will
 directly. receive the second best rating. Targets with
- Generation targets are converted to a difference of up to 30% to the pathway are
 share of renewable energy in the TPES assessed as a “medium” performance and a
 according to the method described in difference of up to 40% or even above as
 the appendix. In case only installed “low” and “very low”.
 capacity targets are available, country-
 specific capacity factors are used to

1.3 Energy Use (20% of Overall Score)
Besides an expansion of renewable ener- and overall greenhouse gas neutrality by
gies, a vast increase in energy efficiency is mid-century. The more efficient energy can
crucial to achieving global decarbonisation be used, the faster and easier countries can

 16

CCPI Background and Methodology GERMANWATCH

reach net-zero emissions. Therefore, one ergy", the CCPI aims to provide a compre-
major step in combatting the global climate hensive picture and balanced evaluation of
crisis is to reduce the energy needed to pro- each country, acknowledging the different
vide for products and services. development stages of countries and thus
 basing their performance evaluation in per
Increases in energy efficiency in its strict capita energy use on four different dimen-
sense are complex to measure and would re-
 sions: current level, recent development and
quire a sector-by-sector approach, for the 2°C compatibility of both the current
which there are no comparable data sources level and the 2030 target.
available across all countries at the present
time. The CCPI therefore assesses the per As in the “Renewable Energy” category,
capita energy use of a country and measures TPES data excludes values for non-energy
progress in this category. 21 As in the catego- use and traditional biomass (see chapter
ries "GHG Emissions" and "Renewable En- 2.2).

1.3.1 Current Level of Energy Use Measured as TPES per Capita
To recognise some countries increasing their For a maximum of 60 UnitTPES/Capita, a
per capita energy use but doing so from a country receives a “very high” ranking for
still very low level, this indicator gives the this indicator. Energy Use of up to 90 or 120
current TPES/capita values, which account UnitTPES/Capita receives either a “high” or
for 5% in the overall index ranking. “medium” rating, while more than 160
 UnitTPES/Capita represent a “very low” rat-
 ing.

1.3.2 Past Trend of Energy Use measured as TPES per Capita
In accordance with the categories “Renewa- Countries with a decrease of energy use by
ble Energy” and “GHG Emissions”, the indi- more than 5% over the past 5 years will re-
cator measuring recent developments in per ceive a “high” rating, while only a decrease
capita energy use describes the trend in the of at least 15% means a “very high rating”. If
period of the last five years for which there energy use is even increasing, a country re-
is data available that allows for comparison ceives a ”low” or “very low” rating, if energy
across all evaluated countries. This indicator use has increased by more than 10% over
also accounts for 5% of the overall CCPI the past 5 years.
ranking.

1.3.3 Current Level of TPES per Capita Compared to a Well-
 Below-2°C Compatible Pathway
For 2°C and 1.5°C scenarios, a decrease in IPCC carried out a scenario comparison us-
emissions by reducing the (growth in) en- ing a large number of integrated assessment
ergy use is as crucial as deploying renewable models. 22
(or other low-carbon) technologies. The

21
 Rebound effects can diminish positive effects of in- cannot forgo these efficiency improvements, but ra-
 creased efficiency or even reverse them. Still, we ther must complement them with adequate measures
 that limit rebound effects.
 22
 Clarke, L.et al. (2014)

 17

CCPI Background and Methodology GERMANWATCH

From the scenarios available, we observe India to triple its energy use per capita by
that the total amount of global energy use in 2050, while absolute energy demand can
2050 has to be roughly the same level or a grow even further due to population growth.
bit higher than it is today, with a margin of The United States would need to cut per
uncertainty. At the same time population will capita energy use to one third by 2050.
grow slightly between today and 2050. We
 We calculate a linear pathway from 1990 to
therefore pragmatically chose the well-be-
low-2° compatible benchmark to be “same the described benchmark in 2050 and meas-
 ure the distance of the country's current
energy use per capita in 2050 as the current
 level to this pathway.
global average”, which is 80 gigajoules per
capita in total primary energy supply (TPES). If a country undercuts its pathway, it will re-
Current energy use per capita is very di- ceive a “high” rating or even a “very high” if
 the difference is above 30%. “Medium” and
verse. At the present time, the value for India
is only a third of the global average, while for “low” ratings are defined by a difference of
 up to 10% and 30% to the pathway. Anything
the United States it is more than three times
 above is a “very low” performance.
higher than the global average. Conse-
quently, the chosen benchmark would allow

 Figure 8: Energy use pathway Illustration: Germanwatch/NewClimate Institute

1.3.4 Energy Use TPES per Capita 2030 Target Compared to a
 Well-Below-2°C Compatible Pathway
The CCPI also evaluates the distance be- Energy efficiency and energy use targets are
tween the country's energy targets for 2030 not formulated in standardised units. Some
along the country's pathway to the 2050 countries present targets as efficiency gains
benchmark. This year for the first time, this compared to a baseline scenario, whereas
distance is measured in absolute terms ra- others announce reduction targets for the
ther than in relative terms. This leads to economy energy intensity.
countries with a lower TPES per capita to
 We combined various data sources to trans-
have a higher score in this category, as long
 form all targets expressed in different units
as their TPES per Capita target for 2030 is
 into a targeted future per capita energy use.
above their pathway.

 18

CCPI Background and Methodology GERMANWATCH

For this purpose, we relied on population approach we chose for each individual coun-
projections by the United Nations. 23 try. All historical data on TPES are taken from
 the IEA energy balances. 24
Since 2020, when no explicit economy-wide
target was available, we assume the trend in A “very high“ or “high” rating can be
per capita energy use of the previous five achieved with a target undercutting the
years is maintained until 2030. country’s pathway. If the difference is only
 up to 30% to its pathway, a country will re-
Whenever a target is indicated for a year ceive the second best rating. Targets with a
other than 2030, we interpolated or extrap-
 difference of up to 10% difference to the
olated the result linearly to obtain a value for pathway are assessed as a “medium” perfor-
2030. The table in the annex specifies the
 mance and a difference of up to 40% differ-
 ence or even above as “low” and “very low”.

1.4 Climate Policy (20% of Overall Score)
The “Climate Policy” category in the CCPI of climate policies are scored (s. 2.4.1 and
considers the fact that measures taken by 2.4.2).
governments to reduce greenhouse gases
 To compensate the absence of independent
often take several years to show their effect
 experts in some countries (due to the lack of
on the categories “GHG Emissions”, “Energy
 functioning civil society or research struc-
Use” and “Renewable Energy”. On top of this,
 tures), the national policy of such countries
the most current greenhouse gas emissions
 is flatly rated as scoring average points. The
data enumerated in sectors of origin, pro-
 goal is to close these gaps in the future and
vided by PRIMAP and the IEA, is about two
 steadily expand the network of experts. For
years old. However, the assessment of cli-
 the CCPI 2021, about 380 national climate
mate policy includes much more recent de-
 experts contributed to the evaluation of the
velopments. The effect that current govern-
 57 countries plus the EU. They each evalu-
ments benefit or suffer from the conse-
 ated their own country’s national and inter-
quences of the preceding administration’s
climate actions is thereby reduced. national policy. The latter is also rated by cli-
 mate policy experts who closely observe the
The data for the category “Climate Policy” is participation of the respective countries at
assessed annually in a comprehensive re- climate conferences.
search study. Its basis is the performance
rating by climate and energy policy experts Climate policy has an overall weight of 20%,
 with national and international policy making
from non-governmental organisations, uni-
versities and think tanks within the countries up 10% each. Despite the apparently low in-
 fluence of climate policy, this category has
that are evaluated. In a questionnaire, they
give a rating on a scale from one (“weak”) to quite a considerable influence on short-term
 changes in the overall ranking. Unlike the ra-
five (“strong”) on the most important
measures of their government. In order to ther “sluggish” categories of “Emissions”,
 “Renewable Energy” and “Energy Use”, a
obtain more differentiated results, there is
also the possibility to further evaluate and positive change in climate policy can lead a
 country to jump multiple positions. On the
comment on single aspects. Both the na-
tional and international efforts and impulses other hand, the “sluggish” categories can
 only be changed through successful climate
 change mitigation – policy therefore plays a

23
 UN (2017) 24
 IEA (annually updated-c)

 19

CCPI Background and Methodology GERMANWATCH

decisive role for future scores within the our survey receive a “very high” or “high” rat-
CCPI. ing. Anything above 2.5 would still receive
 “medium”, while anything below 1.5 is a “very
The ratings for the Climate Policy category low” performance.
are quite simple: Grades above 4.5 or 3.5 in

1.4.1 National Climate Policy
For the indicator “National Climate Policy”, ecosystem biodiversity, and national peat
the annual climate policy performance ques- land protection. Within each of these policy
tionnaire covers concrete policies on the areas, experts evaluate both strength and
promotion of renewable energies, the in- the level of implementation of the respective
crease in energy efficiency and other policy framework.
measures to reduce greenhouse gas emis-
 In line with the Paris Agreement, experts also
sions in the electricity and heat production
 evaluate the ambition level and well-below-
sector, the manufacturing and construction
 2°C compatibility of their country's Nation-
industries, and transport and residential sec-
 ally Determined Contributions (NDCs) as
tors. Beyond that, current climate policy is
 well as their progress towards reaching
evaluated with regard to a reduction in de-
 these goals.
forestation and forest degradation brought
about by supporting and protecting forest

1.4.2 International Climate Policy
The CCPI also evaluates countries’ perfor- to assess the recent performance of their
mance at UNFCCC conferences and other country in international fora.
international conferences and multilateral
agreements. The questionnaire asks experts

 20

CCPI Background and Methodology GERMANWATCH

1.4.3 Green Economic Recovery
For the CCPI 2021, the Climate Policy survey Policy and aim to establish an understanding
was extended by a brief stocktake of green of the countries’ prioritization in their eco-
stimulus interventions and harmful actions to nomic stimulus packages, assessing
avoid in response to the COVID-19 pan- whether low-carbon development strategies
demic. The questions correspond largely to are promoted or not.
the above-mentioned categories of Climate

2 Calculation and Results
The current evaluation method sets zero as
the bottom cut off, and 100 points are the i: 1,…., n: number of partial indicators (cur-
maximum that can be achieved. A country rently 14)
that performed best in one indicator re-
ceives full points (in that indicator). Im- − 
portant for interpretation is the following: Score = 100 � �
 − 
100 points are possible in principle, but for
each partial indicator, and for the overall
score, this still only means the best relative The differences between countries’ efforts
performance, which is not necessarily the to protect the climate are only to be seen
optimal climate protection effort. clearly in the achieved score, not in the rank-
 ing itself. When taking a closer look at the
The CCPI’s final ranking is calculated from
 top position of the CCPI 2021, one can see
the weighted average of the achieved
 that Sweden as the highest-ranking country
scores in the separate indicators with the
 was not at the top in all indicators, let alone
following formula:
 has it achieved 100 points. This example
 shows that failures and weak points of a
 = � country can only be recognised within the
 separate categories and indicators.
 =1
 The current version of the Climate Change
I: Climate Change Performance Index,
 Performance Index including model calcula-
Xi: normalised Indicator,
 tions and the press review can be down-
wi: weighting of Xi,
 loaded from:
� = 1 0 ≤ ≤ 1
 =1 www.ccpi.org

 21

CCPI Background and Methodology GERMANWATCH

Development and Prospects
The CCPI was first introduced to a profes- estation. However, due to the lack of com-
sional audience at the COP11 – Montreal Cli- parable data for various other sectors, like
mate Conference in 2005. agriculture, peatland or forest degradation,
 the corresponding emissions could not be
Since the beginning CAN International sup- taken into account until 2017.
ports the index through its international net-
work of experts working on the issue of cli- Due to the methodological revision in 2017,
mate protection. we are able to assess all GHG emissions aris-
 ing across all sectors. The index also in-
Following a methodological evaluation of the
 cludes assessments of the countries' current
seventh edition of the CCPI, we began to in-
 performance and own targets set for the fu-
clude the carbon emissions data from defor-
 ture in relation to their country-specific well-
 below-2°C pathway.

 22

CCPI Background and Methodology GERMANWATCH

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