Slovenia gains one spot in climate protection ranking

Glasgow – Slovenia ranked 50th on the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) ranking for 2022, an improvement by one spot, however scientists warn that the country’s performance in fighting climate change is still quite poor.

What strikes experts from NGO Germanwatch, NewClimate Institute and Climate Action Network (CAN), which publish the index yearly, as particularly problematic in Slovenia’s ranking is its performance in tackling the current situation and achieving goals for 2030.

Their latest report notes that Slovenia’s sectoral measures and targets regarding efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissions are insufficient or too modest.

Slovenia has not yet released its time frame to phase out coal, CCPI experts point out, adding that fossil fuels subsidies, particularly in the form of tax breaks, are still in place in the country.

They also highlight Slovenia’s plans to help the energy-intensive industry through the recovery of the indirect costs of emissions at a time of soaring energy prices. If these plans are realised, they could slow down efforts to reduce harmful emissions, the experts warn.

Moreover, Slovenia’s target of a 27% of renewables in the country’s energy mix by 2030 is merely two percentage points above the current share.

The experts therefore call on Slovenia to phase out coal until 2030, abolish fossil fuels subsidies and step up energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy sources.

In the past decade, Slovenia has achieved progress when it comes to energy efficient buildings, the report says. In the country’s transportation, there are no effective climate policies, so the experts call for a faster development of railways and public transport.

Slovenian environmental NGOs Focus and Umanotera contributed to the report.

Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the UK and Morocco are the best-performing countries in the latest ranking, occupying places four through eight.

Ranks one to three remain vacant, as no country’s measures so far have been enough to get the highest rating. None are doing what is necessary to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century, according to the experts.

The worst-performing countries are Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Canada. China ranks 37th and the US 55th.

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