Australia still trails most developed countries in climate performance ranking

Australia’s lack of policy to phase out coal and gas mining contributed to its low ranking in the climate change performance index. Photograph: Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images

Australia continues to trail other developed countries in addressing the climate crisis, in part due to the Albanese government’s support for new fossil fuel developments, according to an analysis released at the Cop27 UN conference in Egypt.

The climate change performance index, published by Germanwatch, the NewClimate Institute and the Climate Action Network with input from 450 climate and energy experts and campaigners, found Australia was still a “very low performing country”. It ranked 55th on a list of 63 countries and country groupings, up from 59th last year.