Sustainable development report ranks Australia last on climate action

Australia has been ranked last out of nearly 200 countries in terms of climate action.  

The Sustainable Development Report by Cambridge in its global assessment on achieving sustainable development goals has ranked Australia in the last position for climate action among 193 countries it evaluated. 

Out of 193 UN countries, Australia has been ranked last for climate action taken to reduce global greenhouse gases. 

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In the assessment on fossil fuel emissions, Australia received a low score of 10 out of 100. It also includes emissions associated with imports and exports and policies for pricing carbon.  

At 192, second last was the small nation Brunei, ranked behind Qatar and Norway.

Australian climate expert Richie Merzian said that the results were expected and aren’t a surprise since the climate change performance index has also last year ranked Australia second last, besting only “Trump’s America”. 

Talking about the federal government he said that they have cherry-picked technologies, which support the fossil fuel industry and that the government has no consistent climate and energy policy. 

The report notes that the country has not committed to new zero carbon emissions by 2050, rather Australian PM Scott Morrison has signalled that Australia wants to achieve carbon neutrality "preferably" by 2050.

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Recent emissions data released in May shows that the country’s emissions were lowest in 30 years during the coronavirus pandemic. 

Evaluating based on 17 SDG goals, this year's report ranks Australia at 35th position overall, with the country scoring well and performing strongly on some SDG goals like economic growth, health and well-being, education, clean water etc. 

The report noted that while Australia has witnessed a moderate improvement in the field of clean energy, it still has “major challenges” ahead. 

Speaking about global action, the report says that countries around the globe must not allow the pandemic to lead to a reversal in all the progress made towards achieving the 17 goals and instead international commitments must be “rapidly accompanied by transformative actions and investments”.