Clean energy gains fail to lift India's climate ranking

Antalya: India has been moving steadily to increase its renewable and clean energy portfolio, as well as taking policy measures like setting up a carbon credit trading mechanism and addressing energy efficiency, but the hard work of the transition has just begun for the country. That is the main message from the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) 2027 prepared by Germanwatch and the New Climate Institute that was released at COP31 on Wednesday.

India has dropped from 23rd to the 28th position in the CCPI 2027, firmly ensconcing the country among the medium-performing countries along with the European Union, Brazil, Colombia, Germany, Pakistan, and Vietnam. The index is an independent monitoring tool that compares the climate mitigation performance of 64 countries and the EU every year. It considers four categories--greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), renewable energy, energy use and climate policy. In the 2027 edition, India received a medium rating in GHG emissions, climate policy and energy use, and a low rating in renewable energy. As for performance, it is in line with India's performance in the last edition of the index.

Between 2019 and 2024, India was among the high performers. Madhura Joshi, Programme Lead Asia, Third Generation Environmentalism (E3G) and one of the expert contributors, said, "The slip in the ranking tells us the next phase is harder." That means ensuring that storage and flexibility must keep pace so clean power isn't wasted, while avoiding locking in high-carbon infrastructure.


The report welcomes India's expanded solar and wind capacities and rooftop installations and the uptake in EVs. It takes note of competitive procurement, rooftop solar support, and domestic manufacturing incentives have supported renewable energy deployment in India. While it acknowledges that India met its NDC commitment for increasing non-fossil fuel sources to 50% of cumulative installed capacity five years ahead in June 2025, the report points out that installed capacity differs from electricity generated. Given India's track record of meeting its commitment ahead of time, some experts would like to see India setting new and higher targets.