New Delhi: India ranked at 10th position in the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) 2025, ranking over 60 countries on their efforts toward mitigating climate change. Though India slipped two steps backward from last year, the country’s low per-capita emissions and a fast-growing renewable energy sector were emphasized as main strengths.
Denmark, Netherlands, and the UK topped the list because of coal phase-out policies and renewable energy commitments. China and the US ranked 55th and 57th, respectively, because of coal dependency, among other things, and lack of properly set climate targets.
Per-capita emissions in India stand at 2.9 tons of CO2 equivalent, still considerably lower than the global average of 6.6 tCO2e. The country has done quite well in terms of its renewable energy policy, through large-scale solar projects to upscaling power through the Rooftop Solar Scheme, with targets toward achieving 500 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030.
Climate policies for India are unlikely to change much, given the growth-driven imperative to deliver industrial and population needs. But India remains the world’s third-largest producer of coal, with plans to increase this production, with more concerning implications.
The CCPI evaluated 63 countries and the EU, representing 90% of global emissions. Only two G20 countries were rated as high performers: India and the UK; Argentina ranked 59th, whose new president negates human-made climate change. Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Russia, all major oil and gas producers, are at the bottom of the ranking, with strong reliance on fossil fuel contributing to this poor performance.