Seoul, South
Korea - The 2010 Climate Competitiveness
Index, the most comprehensive study to date
of national progress to create green jobs
and economic growth through low carbon products
and services, shows that in spite of uncertainty
surrounding international climate negotiations,
countries have forged ahead with low carbon
growth strategies in the first quarter of
2010.
The annual Climate Competitiveness
Index (CCI), produced by the independent
non-profit institute AccountAbility, in
partnership with the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP), combines two sets of data.
It investigates "Climate
Accountability" to validate if a country's
climate strategy is clear, ambitious and
supported by stakeholders, as well as "Climate
Performance," considering each country's
capabilities and track record on delivering
its strategy.
The Index analysed 95 countries responsible
for 97 per cent of global economic activity
and 96 per cent of global carbon emissions.
It concludes that despite
gaps in performance and accountability,
46 per cent of countries have demonstrated
some improvement in climate accountability
since the UNFCCC Copenhagen conference in
December 2009.
Thirty two countries
have made significant improvements, with
Germany, China and the Republic of Korea
being the outstanding examples. India, Indonesia,
Kenya, Mexico, the Philippines and Rwanda
have also enhanced their climate accountability.
"This report comes
as a breath of fresh air," said Alex
MacGillivray, Managing Director at AccountAbility.
"The CCI shows that
countries at all levels of development can
develop political leadership, stronger institutions
and engaging with stakeholders to deliver
climate competitiveness. Climate competitiveness
is no longer rhetoric. It is a real, massive
and dynamic economic frontier. This latest
analysis proves that governments are seizing
opportunities for Green Growth and making
significant strides to tackle the climate
crisis."
He added, "The
Climate Competitiveness Index is the essential
guide to understanding opportunities - and
accountability - in the multi-trillion dollar
low carbon economy of the new decade."
Sweden, Denmark, Germany,
Japan and France show the most consistent
progress on combining accountability and
performance. Switzerland and Austria are
strong on performance, while the UK and
USA are strong on accountability. The Republic
of Korea, Hong Kong and Malaysia are developing
good strategies and the BASIC nations (Brazil,
South Africa, India and China) are progressing
towards climate competitiveness.
The CCI predicts that
the global market for low carbon products
and services will be in excess of US$2 trillion
in 2020.
However, to secure this
market, countries need ambitious climate
competitiveness strategies, as well as the
institutional infrastructure to build markets
and convince investors.
The report underscores
the importance of the business sector. It
concludes that business must play a proactive
role in promoting climate competitiveness.
Countries that perform
well on the CCI have a critical mass of
firms managing, reporting on and reducing
their emissions - whilst aggressively growing
portfolios of low carbon products and services.
"Releasing this
report at this year's Business for the Environment
Summit in Seoul, attended by hundreds of
political, business and civil society leaders,
is a tribute to the many individuals who
play a critical role in building the new
Green Economy," commented Hee Ryung
Lee, Lead Analyst at AccountAbility.
"This survey proves
that the most progressive countries are
purposefully and carefully nurturing business
as part of their strategy towards enduring
low carbon growth."
The CCI demonstrates
that the best national performers have a
coherent institutional framework of low
carbon support for business, including chambers
of commerce, stock exchanges, investment
agencies, government departments and NGOs
dedicated to green growth.
The investment promotion
agency in Finland, the Presidential Office
in the Republic of Korea and Kenya's Green
Energy Foundation are three examples of
institutions supporting climate competitiveness.
The CCI indicates that
there is no single blueprint or pathway
to climate competitiveness. Countries and
regions are pursuing distinctive climate
strategies based on national priorities
and capabilities.
As examples, Bolivia,
Ghana, Vietnam and Bangladesh all demonstrate
strong citizen concern coupled with limited
business engagement.
Emerging economies like
Brazil and the Philippines enjoy strong
government leadership. In other cases, leadership
is evident in the business community, for
example in Scandinavia and Singapore.
Alex MacGillivray, Managing Director, AccountAbility
Nick Nuttall UNEP Spokesperson and Head
of Media
Notes to Editors
Download the Climate
Competitiveness Index 2010 and view supporting
materials at www.climatecompetitiveness.org
The Climate Competitiveness
Index 2010 is the largest and most systematic
effort to gauge how countries around the
world are placed to succeed in the low carbon
economy.
It combines indicators
that are already available in the public
domain with new data generated by AccountAbility
to provide insight into 95 countries, responsible
for 97 percent of global economic activity
and 96 percent of carbon dioxide emissions.
'The annual Climate
Competitiveness Index (CCI) combines two
sets of data' on climate accountability
(the climate strategy is clear, ambitious,
and supported by all stakeholders) and climate
performance (the country has the track record
and capabilities to deliver the strategy).
Each dimension has four domains and 13 variables.
The 2010 CCI does not
apply different measures or weightings to
countries at different levels of development,
or to differentiate Annex-1 and Non-Annex
1 countries.
The CCI 2010 does not
combine the scores of the two dimensions
into a single league table for this inaugural
version of the index.
