When it comes to prowess in moving towards a low-carbon economy, some countries in Asia are increasingly outpacing Europe and the United States, a new report shows.
Three of the top G20 countries best placed to compete in the global low-carbon economy are now from East Asia, having overtaken their European and American competitors, according to an index which measures how carbon-competitive countries are.
The report, the Climate Institute/GE Low-Carbon Competitiveness Index, published by the Climate Institute, was first released in 2009. This year’s edition relies on data from 2010.
In that year France, the UK and Germany were placed first, third and fifth. Today France is still in first place (thanks largely to its heavy reliance on nuclear power to generate electricity) but the UK has slipped down while Germany, sixth, is out of the top group.
Meanwhile China leapt ahead of its previous placing, and South Korea and Japan continued their strong performance. China is now third, up from seventh.
This is despite China now having supplanted the US as the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases. Though China’s growth in renewables is impressive, its power sector still relies overwhelmingly on coal, with construction of coal-fired power stations continuing at breakneck pace: the country now accounts for nearly 50 per cent of global coal consumption.
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