India has slipped 13 places from its previous ranking to 23rd position in a latest global chart on climate change performance, brought out by a group of three organisations, mainly due to absence of any deadline to exit from coal usage.
The Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) 2026, jointly published and released by Germanwatch, NewClimate Institute and Climate Action Network at the ongoing UN COP30 Climate Summit here on Tuesday, is an annual independent monitoring tool for climate mitigation performance of 63 countries and the European Union.
According to the ratings, India stands at 23rd position with a score of 61.31 among the countries, falling 13 places from last year's list. It also labelled India among the biggest producers of oil, gas and coal worldwide.
The country's show fell from a 'high performer' to a 'medium' one in this year's CCPI as there is no national coal exit timeline and new coal blocks continue to be auctioned, it added.
The key demands for climate action have been a time-bound coal phase-down and eventually a phase-out, and redirecting fossil subsidies toward decentralised community-owned renewable energy segment, the report highlighted.
The document noted that no country reached the top three positions as "no country is doing enough to prevent dangerous climate change".
The fourth position is held by Denmark with 80.52 points, followed by the UK with 70.8 and Morocco with 70.75. Saudi Arabia has been placed at the bottom with a score of 11.9, while Iran and the USA are at 66th and 65th positions with 14.33 and 21.84 points respectively.
"India ranks 23rd and is among the medium-performing countries in this year's CCPI. The country earns a medium in GHG Emissions, Climate Policy, and Energy Use, and a low in Renewable Energy," the report said.
In a contradictory statement, the document said India is signalling its long-term intent on climate action with a formal strategy and ambitious renewable energy targets, alongside established efficiency programmes such as Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) appliance labelling since 2006 and the Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT) mechanism for industry since 2012.
"The country has accelerated renewable energy deployment through auctions and fiscal tools, and the CCPI country experts note record auction participation and continuously falling tariffs.
"In 2025, India reported reaching 50 per cent of installed power capacity from non-fossil sources ahead of the 2030 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) target," it added.
Because of this, the experts make favourable mention of the work on green finance taxonomy and a national carbon market framework.
"At the same time, the national pathway is still anchored in coal. There is no national coal exit timeline and new coal blocks continue to be auctioned. Fossil subsidies and infrastructure lock-ins persist. The country is among the 10 countries with the largest developed coal reserves, and it currently plans to increase its production," the CCPI 2026 said.
Stating that the experts criticised the uneven and weak carbon price signals, the report said India's total solar rooftop capacity was 20.8 GW as of September 2025 with nearly 9 GW added in the last year, making up around 17 per cent of total solar installations.
"However, the experts criticise that large grid-scale renewable projects have triggered land conflicts, displacement, and water stress, reflecting top-down, non-inclusive siting. Several reported incidents involve human rights violations and ecosystem degradation," it added.
The document further noted that India's updated NDC commits to 50 per cent non-fossil capacity by 2030 and a 45 per cent emissions-intensity cut compared with 2005, but the experts noted that the 2070 net-zero goal is not aligned with 1.5 degree celsius pathways.
They also highlighted the missing interim milestones for 2035 and 2040 respectively, sectoral trajectories and state-level accountability, and limited non-inclusive consultation with civil society and communities affected.
"Internationally, India defends equity with Common But Differentiated Responsibilities (CBDR) and leads multilateral initiatives such as the International Solar Alliance (ISA), but the experts point out that domestic fossil fuel expansion undermines credibility," the report said.
It said that the experts recommended a time-bound coal phase-down and eventually a phase-out, including setting a no new-coal date and a peak coal year, recommending redirection of fossil subsidies toward decentralised community-owned renewable energy.
"They advise strengthening the social and environmental safeguards for renewable energy siting. They also mention the need for more coherent biomass accounting and constraining woody biomass by strict sustainability criteria. They advise establishing binding roadmaps for fossil phase-out in sectors such as transport, buildings and industrial with interim sectoral and state-level milestones for 2035 and 2040," CCPI 2026 said.
It also highlighted the importance of a just transition and the codesign with affected regions as a priority. The experts also stressed on the importance of expanding risk-buffer tools and prioritising smallholders, women and vulnerable communities regarding access to finance and resilience support.
The publishers mentioned that the CCPI 2026 is based on the methodological design introduced in 2017 covering all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and evaluates the 2030 targets and the well-below-2 degree Celsius compatibility of countries' current levels and targets in the categories 'GHG Emissions', 'Renewable Energies' and 'Energy Use'.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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