Introducing performance distributions to visualise collective progress

The NewClimate Institute suggests that the first Global Stocktake (GST) adopt performance distributions to visualise greenhouse gas emissions and other indicators. This method allows for the assessment of collective progress without singling out individual countries, while still enabling national-level benchmarking and public scrutiny. Using PRIMAP-hist data as an example, the briefing shows that while 54 countries have seen emissions decline over the past five years, others continue to increase emissions at rates of nearly 10% per year.

• Performance distributions are proposed for the Global Stocktake (GST) because they allow for the evaluation of collective progress and the communication of country differences without naming and shaming individual nations. This approach is intended to foster peer pressure among Parties and facilitate national-level public scrutiny by allowing independent actors to benchmark their own country's progress.
• Analysis of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions using the PRIMAP-hist dataset reveals that 139 countries have current emissions levels above those of 2005, with some more than doubling. While 54 countries experienced emissions declines over the last five years, the rate of decline for frontrunners reached a maximum of 5% per year, whereas laggards saw increases of nearly 10% per year.
• The performance distribution methodology is versatile and can be applied to various indicators beyond GHG emissions, including sectoral indicators like the share of renewable power generation and international climate finance, to provide more actionable information.

APA

NewClimate Institute (2022). Introducing performance distributions to visualise collective progress. http://www.newclimate.org/resources/publications/introducing-performance-distributions-to-visualise-collective-progress

Chicago

NewClimate Institute. Introducing performance distributions to visualise collective progress. 2022. http://www.newclimate.org/resources/publications/introducing-performance-distributions-to-visualise-collective-progress.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=NewClimate Institute |title=Introducing performance distributions to visualise collective progress |date=9 June 2022 |url=http://www.newclimate.org/resources/publications/introducing-performance-distributions-to-visualise-collective-progress |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{newclimateinstitute2022introducing, author = {{NewClimate Institute}}, title = {{Introducing performance distributions to visualise collective progress}}, institution = {NewClimate Institute}, year = {2022}, month = jun, url = {http://www.newclimate.org/resources/publications/introducing-performance-distributions-to-visualise-collective-progress}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }