But the report said momentum is still falling short of meeting the Paris goal of keeping global warming below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 F) and ideally 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels.
To stay within those limits, the world must halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, rapidly phase out fossil fuels and significantly increase climate financing.
“Our index shows significantly more countries than before with good or even very good results in individual categories such as renewable energy,” said Thea Uhlich of the environmental NGO Germanwatch, one of the report’s authors.
“However, we also see that the positive trends for renewable energy and electrification started too late for the major emitters – the G20 countries – to achieve the necessary emissions reductions,” Uhlich said.
This year, the United States was rated very poorly in all categories, including per capita emissions, renewable energy expansion, energy use, and climate policy. Under President Donald Trump, the country slipped eight places to 65th in the overall ranking, which takes into account all four categories.
Uhlich described the decline as “remarkable”. Only petrostates Iran and Saudi Arabia ranked lower.
The rankings are compiled each year by Germanwatch, the New Climate Institute policy think tank, and CAN International, a global network of civil society organizations. It evaluates 63 countries and the European Union, which are responsible for more than 90% of global emissions that cause planetary warming.
No country ranked ‘very high’
This year the first three places in the index are again left vacant as no country fully aligns with the Paris goals. But there were some bright spots, too.
“While we cannot confirm any country’s very good climate mitigation performance overall, there are leaders in some categories that are demonstrating ambitious performance,” said ranking author Niklas Hohne of the Berlin-based NuClimate Institute.
For example, Pakistan is the only country to achieve a “very high” rating for per capita emissions, which represents the average emissions per capita in a country. According to the ranking, Morocco has achieved a “high” rating for renewable energy, has low emissions and invests heavily in public transportation. Norway, Denmark and Sweden are leaders in green energy expansion.
In the overall ranking, 13 countries received a “high” rating. Denmark tops the list, followed by the UK, Morocco and Chile. Portugal came in 12th, and Pakistan ranked 15th, followed by Romania, which was the last country on the list to achieve a “high” rating.
EU and Germany lag behind in climate ranking
The report rated 18 countries as “moderate” performers. EU countries achieved mixed results and overall the group slipped three places to 20th in the overall ranking.
Germany ranked 22nd – its worst rating in six years. Reasons for its poor performance include a retreat from climate policy, a focus on natural gas, which emits greenhouse gases when burned, and a lack of measures to reduce pollution from transportation and buildings. Germany ranks only “high” in terms of its energy use.
“The German government will have to set a decisive course in the coming weeks to get back on track,” said Jan Burke, author of the report and senior adviser for low-carbon strategies at Germanwatch.
India also slipped in the rankings to 23rd due to rising emissions and lack of a plan to phase out coal. Brazil improved slightly to 27th, despite gains in renewable energy and climate diplomacy and plans for new oil projects in the Amazon.
Climate slowdown and trend reversal in China
Seventeen countries are rated “low” and 16 are rated “very low” in the index. Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United States and Russia all sit at the bottom of the table.
“We have a group of petrostates that want to continue the fossil age at all costs – the Arab states, the United States, Russia, and to a lesser extent Canada and Australia,” Burke said. He said most G20 countries do not share that stance.
China also ranked “very low” at 54th due to its expansion of polluting fossil fuels, especially coal. At the same time, it is a leader in renewable energy and moving forward in electric mobility. In 2024, half of all cars sold in the country will be electric.
Although emissions have increased worldwide, early data through 2025 suggests a modest decline in China’s CO2 emissions. According to the report, continuation of this trend “would be a promising sign for the future.”
“There are clear signs that China’s emissions peak may soon be reached,” Hoehne said.
“It is now critical that China not only continues to expand green technologies in record time, but also rapidly phase out fossil fuels,” he said.
China and Brazil, hosts of this year’s UN climate conference, both received “high” ratings in the climate policy category, which assesses national emissions policies and targets.
This article was originally written in German.
<a href