Belgium drops two places in global climate ranking

Belgium this year dropped two spots to 16th place on the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI), an international index that ranks the climate efforts of 58 countries. It is the tenth time that the non-profit NGO Germanwatch and Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe team up for the initiative.

Belgium dropped in the ranking because it "has not done enough to reduce its CO2 emissions, and its federal and regional governments are standing still when it comes to climate policies," stated the environmental organisations Bond Beter Leefmilieu (BBL), IEW, WWF and Greenpeace in a press release.

Belgium scores well on climate diplomacy, development of renewable energy and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from buildings, according to the environmental organisations. However, Belgium scores poorly in comparison with 57 other major polluters around the world for its relatively high energy consumption per person, high industrial CO2 emissions, transportation and weak climate policy at both the federal and regional level, according to the CCPI.

"The Flemish Government's new coalition agreement provides opportunities for positive change, through its emphasis on improving energy efficiency, for example,” said Jan Vandermosten, climate expert for WWF Belgium, in a press release. “But the proposed measures need to be strictly implemented, otherwise we will only continue to sink further."

No country achieved the first three places on the list, because too little ambition was shown to prevent major climate change, but Denmark (4th), Sweden (5th) and the United Kingdom (6th) came in first in the ranking.