The report has identified Ireland as one of the three worst-performing European countries in terms of climate change. Luxembourg and Cyprus are the only two countries in Europe with a worse performance than Ireland.
Sweden and Germany were the best-performing countries in the index. It looks at the climate protection performance of 56 nations that, between them, are responsible for more than 90 per cent of the world’s energy-related CO2 emissions.
Ireland was singled out as one of the ‘big losers’, or countries that have fallen in the rankings since last year. This is in spite of the fact that a recent European Commission report suggesting that the country is on track to meet its Kyoto emissions commitments.
Separately, Environment Minister John Gormley has announced that taxation for cars with high emissions will increase, with top-band vehicles incurring a Euro 2,000 charge.
Ben Meggeson