Essay by Eric Worrall
Russia’s Gas dependence is not a reported indicator – but if it were, the order of the top positions on MIT’s green futures index would probably be the same.
Green Futures Index 2022
…
The Green Future Index 2022 is the second annual comparative ranking of 76 countries and territories on their ability to develop a sustainable, low-carbon future for their economies and societies. In this year’s rankings, we found that many countries may not be able to maintain the pace of change due to pandemic-related slowdowns and shutdowns. Moreover, in the face of uncertainty as the pandemic drags on, many have reverted to old carbon-intensive habits to power armies. ) and many of the world’s leading countries — including some of the biggest polluters — committed to meeting deadlines to achieve carbon neutrality. Our collective efforts to forge a green future are inevitable (if perhaps more moderate than hoped for).
The key findings of this year’s report are as follows:
In this year’s index, many countries failed to maintain the pace of change caused by pandemic-related slowdowns and shutdowns. Faced with uncertainty as covid-19 drags on, many have reverted to old carbon-intensive habits to recharge their economies. However, there has also been a staggering increase in investment in renewable energy, accounting for more than 70% of total new electricity generation by 2021.
• Europe’s green leadership maintained for the second year. In the 2022 rankings, 14 of the top 20 scorers have largely remained in place this year. Sixteen of the Green Leaders are from Europe: Iceland and Denmark remain number one and two, third and fourth are now held by the Netherlands and
• New leaders are innovators. The highest-ranked cohort newcomers represent an additional group
of the European economies, as well as Korea, Japan and the United States; all three have seen a significant increase in innovation scores thanks to contributions to world-beating green intellectual property (Korea leads the world in green patents) and a remarkable increase in included in infrastructure spending towards green and clean projects.In this year’s index, many countries failed to maintain the pace of change caused by pandemic-related slowdowns and shutdowns. Faced with uncertainty as covid-19 drags on, many have reverted to old carbon-intensive habits to recharge their economies.. However, there has also been a staggering increase in investment in renewable energy, accounting for more than 70% of total new electricity generation by 2021.
…
… In 2021, several signals indicate that, instead of heeding the wake-up calls and seizing the opportunities presented by the pandemic, the world has collectively hit the snooze button. For one, a world is yearning to get back on track economically, quickly restarting “normal” production and manufacturing methods. China, still the world’s factory, has seen the value of its exports increase by more than 20% in 2021. And while China continues to lead the world in clean energy development and has committed to Committed to phasing out coal-fired power generation as part of its pledge to be carbon neutral by 2060, the manufacturing giant’s energy needs continue to grow rapidly. The IEA has seen global energy demand grow 4.6% in 2021, more than a 4% decline in 2020.
…
Reports are available from https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/03/24/1048253/the-green-future-index-2022/
The report was sponsored by Morgan Stanley, Citrix and Iris Ceramica Group.
Top 10:
Iceland tops the list. The entire island is essentially a large volcano, so Iceland is one of the few places in the world where geothermal energy is an economically viable option. And we all know green people love geothermal – fracking to release geothermal energy is somehow different from fracking hydrocarbons, so Iceland tops the list of green champions pretty much.
The US is at 21, behind Canada at 15 – so I guess MIT isn’t quite sold out on President Biden’s progress Green New Deal Build back better.
She has a good-natured shoulder. MIT notes that some countries have “returned to old carbon-intensive habits”. My guess is that at least some nationalist politicians are ultimately prioritizing economic security, pragmatism, and energy security over maintaining a high ranking on MIT’s list of green virtues.
Related
