Climate Action Tracker CAT rating methodology

The Climate Action Tracker (CAT) 2021 rating methodology employs a dual-framework approach, combining 'fair share' principles and 'modelled domestic pathways' to assess government climate action. It evaluates targets (domestic and international), implemented policies, and climate finance to determine an overall rating. The system distinguishes between developed countries, which are expected to provide finance and meet stringent domestic targets, and developing countries, which may require international support to achieve full decarbonisation. The methodology specifically excludes land use, land-use change, and forestry (LULUCF) from main ratings but flags them when they significantly impact a country's emissions profile.

• The CAT rating system uses two primary reference frameworks: 'fair share' principles, which consider historical responsibility and capacity, and 'modelled domestic pathways', which are downscaled global least-cost scenarios from the IPCC to determine feasible national emission reductions.
• The 'fair share' framework is based on a weighted distribution of over 40 scientific studies across seven categories, including responsibility, capability/need, equality, and staged approaches, to define a 'fair share range' for each country.
• Developed countries (Annex I) are expected to meet their fair share obligations through a combination of domestic mitigation and providing international climate finance to support emissions reductions in other countries.
• The climate finance rating for developed countries is based on four criteria: absolute current contributions (measured against a USD 100 billion benchmark), contribution trends over five years, future commitments, and the cessation of overseas fossil fuel finance.
• The overall CAT rating is an average of the policies and action rating and the target rating. For the target rating, the domestic (or internationally supported) target and the fair share target are averaged; if a country is rated on finance, the finance rating can improve the fair share target rating.
• To achieve a '1.5°C Paris Agreement compatible' rating, developed countries must set domestic targets consistent with 1.5°C least-cost pathways, implement policies to meet those targets, and provide international support through finance or bilateral agreements.
• LULUCF (Land-Use, Land-Use Change, and Forestry) is excluded from the main rating to avoid mixing volatile sinks with fossil fuel emissions, but the CAT flags countries where LULUCF emissions or removals exceed 20% of other GHG emissions.
• The methodology for 'modelled domestic pathways' uses the IPAT (Impact, Population, Affluence, and Technology) method to downscale regional emissions to the national level based on GDP and population.

APA

Jeffery, L., Höhne, N., Fekete, H., de Villafranca, M. J., Nascimento, L., Hans, F., Illenseer, N., Fyson, C., Hare, B., Ramalope, D., Stockwell, C., Gidden, M., Horsch, J., Geiges, A., Ganti, G., & Schaeffer, M. (2021). Climate Action Tracker CAT rating methodology. NewClimate Institute. https://climateactiontracker.org/documents/874/CAT_2021-09_RatingMethodology_FullDescriptionNewSystem.pdf

Chicago

Jeffery, Louise, Niklas Höhne, Hanna Fekete, Maria Jose de Villafranca, Leonardo Nascimento, Frederic Hans, Niklas Illenseer, et al. Climate Action Tracker CAT rating methodology. NewClimate Institute, 2021. https://climateactiontracker.org/documents/874/CAT_2021-09_RatingMethodology_FullDescriptionNewSystem.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Jeffery |first1=Louise |last2=Höhne |first2=Niklas |last3=Fekete |first3=Hanna |last4=de Villafranca |first4=Maria Jose |last5=Nascimento |first5=Leonardo |last6=Hans |first6=Frederic |last7=Illenseer |first7=Niklas |last8=Fyson |first8=Claire |last9=Hare |first9=Bill |display-authors=etal |title=Climate Action Tracker CAT rating methodology |publisher=NewClimate Institute |date=September 2021 |url=https://climateactiontracker.org/documents/874/CAT_2021-09_RatingMethodology_FullDescriptionNewSystem.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{jeffery2021climate, author = {Jeffery, Louise and Höhne, Niklas and Fekete, Hanna and de Villafranca, Maria Jose and Nascimento, Leonardo and Hans, Frederic and Illenseer, Niklas and Fyson, Claire and Hare, Bill and Ramalope, Deborah and Stockwell, Claire and Gidden, Matt and Horsch, Jonas and Geiges, Andreas and Ganti, Gaurav and Schaeffer, Michiel}, title = {{Climate Action Tracker CAT rating methodology}}, institution = {NewClimate Institute}, year = {2021}, month = sep, url = {https://climateactiontracker.org/documents/874/CAT_2021-09_RatingMethodology_FullDescriptionNewSystem.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }