India dropped 13 places in the 2026 Climate Change Performance Index, falling from 10th to 23rd, with a score of 61.31. Germanwatch, the NewClimate Institute and Climate Action Network International published the ranking on November 18, 2025, at the COP30 summit in Belém, Brazil.
The index scores 63 countries and the European Union, which together produce more than 90% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Three of its four categories run on emissions and energy statistics. Greenhouse gas emissions carries the heaviest weight, at 40%, and renewable energy and energy use carry 20% each. Each is measured against a country’s current level, its five-year trend, and how it compares with the 2°C target.
The fourth category, climate policy, rests on judgement rather than data. Around 450 climate and energy experts, drawn from non-governmental organisations, universities and think tanks in the countries under review, answer a questionnaire on their own government’s measures. The results are then rated from very high to very low.
Who topped the table, and who didn’t
Denmark held the top spot for another year, in 4th place behind the traditionally vacant first three positions. The United Kingdom followed in 5th place, and Morocco in 6th. Saudi Arabia ranked last, in 67th place, with Iran one place above it and the United States at 65th.
Why India fell
India’s drop took it from a “high performer” to a “medium” one, scoring medium on emissions, climate policy and energy use, and low on renewable energy. Jan Burck, one of the CCPI’s authors at Germanwatch, put the fall down to rising emissions, growing energy consumption and the absence of any plan to phase out coal. Among the 64 economies the index assesses, India ranked last of all on its emissions trend.
Burck said the ranking could improve again next year if India slows the construction of new coal power plants and keeps up its recent progress on renewables.
