Despite the rapid progress of renewable energy sources worldwide, many countries insist on fossil fuels, especially fossil gas, which is often presented as a “transition fuel”. This is shown in the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI 2025) published today by Germanwatch, NewClimate Institute, and CAN International.
Each year, the CCPI assesses the performance of the world’s countries in 4 categories: Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Renewable Energy, Energy Use and Climate Policy. The index includes 63 countries and the European Union, which together are responsible for 90% of global emissions.
The top three ranks remain vacant as in previous years. Countries still need to accelerate climate action to align with the temperature limit of the Paris Agreement.
Greece ranks 22nd overall and 11th among the EU-27 countries with a “medium” performance. It has moved up 6 places compared to last year, but is below the European Union which is 17th. Greece ranks 15th with “medium” performance in Renewable Energy, 19th with “medium” performance in Energy Use, 33rd with “medium” performance in Greenhouse Gas Emissions and 37th with “low” performance in Climate Policy.
Greece’s performance was assessed by WWF Hellas, Greenpeace Greece, Electra Energy, Professor Emmanouella Doussis of the University of Athens and The Green Tank.
The CCPI national experts acknowledge Greece’s progress: GHG emissions have declined with a drop in lignite use for electricity generation and the expansion of renewables.
However, the lack of an adequate spatial framework for renewables, the weak fossil fuel phase-out goals in the final NECP, the lack of commitments to long-term climate targets, the inadequacy of energy storage targets, the persistence on hydrocarbon exploration plans and delays in decarbonizing the buildings and road transport sectors are among the weak spots of the country’s climate policy, according to these experts.
To improve these, the evaluators who contributed to the report on Greece suggest:
- A detailed plan to phase out fossil gas, while further penetrating renewables and developing energy efficiency solutions, grids and energy storage infrastructure.
- A phase out of fossil fuel subsidies.
- A moratorium on hydrocarbon exploration.
- A socially just transition to clean forms of energy that fosters self-production and participatory schemes such as energy communities.
- The implementation of measures to preserve biodiversity and climate adaptation priorities.
After the first three vacant spot, the best scoring country and 4th in the CCPI assessment is Denmark, which was the only country to achieve a “high” performance on climate policy. The Netherlands and the United Kingdom follow. It is worth noting that none of the 16 EU countries participating in the index received a “very low” rating. On the contrary, Iran (67th), Saudi Arabia (66th), the United Arab Emirates (65th) and Russia (64th) are at the bottom of the list.
You can find the CCPI here and the individual data for Greece here.
