Climate change ministers are gathering in Lima for the 2014 United Nations Climate Change Conference to engage in more pointless negotiations while the planet burns. Meanwhile, New Zealand has dropped to 43rd place in the annual Climate Change Performance Index:
New Zealand has received a poor rating for its efforts on climate change, ranked 43rd overall in the Climate Change Performance Index 2015 – an annual assessment of the world's largest CO2 emitters released this morning at the UN climate conference in Lima, Peru.
New Zealand has fallen two places from last year's assessment, placing just ahead of the US and China.
The CCPI uses standardised criteria to evaluate and compare the climate protection performance of 58 countries that are, together, responsible for more than 90 percent of global energy-related CO2 emissions. It is published by Germanwatch and Climate Action Network Europe.
New Zealand performs worst in the 'climate policy' category, where it receives a 'very poor' grade. It is ranked 53rd for national policy with a score of 18.35 out of 100.
Which is simply appalling. And, for a country which sells itself internationally as "100% pure", downright dangerous. But John Key no doubt has other experts who can provide him with a different ranking.
Still, it could be worse: we could be Australia. But by dragging their feet, Key and Groser are taking us there.
The Index is available here, and New Zealand's scorecard is here.