Search Climate Insights Directory

The 2022 Scorecard evaluates eight major private equity firms managing $3.6 trillion in assets, finding that ten of the largest buyout firms held at least 80 percent of their energy portfolios in fossil fuels as of October 2021. The Carlyle Group received the lowest grade (F), with its downstream power plants emitting over 10.8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2020. Other firms including Warburg Pincus, KKR, Brookfield, Ares, Apollo, and Blackstone Group received Ds, while TPG earned a B. The report highlights a lack of transparency, noting that The Carlyle Group's TCFD report excludes its fossil-fuel-focused subsidiary, NGP Energy Capital, despite NGP contributing nearly 61 percent of the firm's profit in the first half of 2022. The authors demand that firms align with 1.5°C targets, cease fossil fuel expansion, disclose all emissions, and integrate climate and environmental justice.

The report evaluates Meta, TikTok, Twitter/X, YouTube, and Pinterest using a 21-point assessment system focused on policy content, transparency, advertising, privacy, and enforcement. Pinterest is identified as the industry leader, while Twitter/X is ranked lowest. The analysis highlights systemic failures across most platforms, including a lack of universal definitions for climate misinformation, poor enforcement of existing rules, and a failure to address greenwashing.

The briefing identifies Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand as the most vulnerable Indian states to the energy transition due to their heavy reliance on coal production and power generation. The assessment uses a multi-dimensional framework—covering fiscal losses, climate risks, socioeconomic impacts, diversification potential, and political economy—to rank states. Odisha is ranked as the most vulnerable, primarily due to high physical climate risks and high CSR dependency, while West Bengal is the least vulnerable due to a more diversified economy, despite having the highest fiscal deficit among the group.

The 2022 Green Central Banking Scorecard evaluates G20 monetary and prudential authorities, finding that most remain insufficiently ambitious in mitigating climate risks. While research and advocacy have improved, the report argues that central banks prioritize analysis over action and are hindered by a commitment to 'market neutrality' and flawed taxonomies. The Banque de France is the top-ranked institution, while Saudi Arabia is the lowest. The report recommends implementing green lending schemes, increasing capital requirements for fossil fuel exposures, and adopting a 'double materiality' framework to account for the financial sector's impact on the environment.

The Global Climate and Health Alliance (GCHA) developed the HealthyNDCs Scorecard to analyze and rank 40 NDCs from 66 countries, assessing how health is incorporated into climate commitments and the level of climate ambition. The document serves as a guide for a Twitter campaign to pressure governments to set ambitious emissions targets and embed health protections into their national climate plans. GCHA identifies specific countries as failing to consider health or lacking ambition, while others are praised for leadership in this area.

The report finds that most major asset managers maintain a gap between long-term net-zero commitments and short-term actions, with significant exposure to coal remaining in passive investment strategies. Only a small fraction of assets are covered by robust coal exclusion criteria, and passive funds are almost entirely excluded from such policies, creating a 'time bomb' for the climate.

South Africa is identified as the second-worst performer among G20 non-OECD member countries due to a lack of transparency and continued support for fossil fuels. Total government support averaged USD 10.9 billion between 2017 and 2019, with the largest portion directed toward fossil fuel-based power. Support increased by 14% relative to the 2014–2016 average, driven largely by price support. The document highlights significant unquantified support, including billions in bailouts and loan guarantees for the state-owned utility Eskom, as well as carbon tax exemptions for major emitters like Sasol.

The G20 Scorecard evaluates OECD and non-OECD members across seven criteria related to fossil fuel funding, including transparency, pledges, and the scale of support for coal, oil, gas, and power generation. It ranks countries such as Germany, France, and Brazil at the top of their respective groups, while others like the United States and Saudi Arabia receive lower scores in multiple categories.

The analysis of draft NECPs reveals that the EU is set to miss its 2030 coal phase-out goals, with 11 Member States planning no phase-out and 60 GW of coal capacity projected to remain. The report highlights a disconnect where countries receiving EU just transition funding, such as Poland and Czechia, lack credible phase-out plans in their NECPs.

The Allianz Climate and Energy Monitor 2018 evaluates G20 nations on their investment attractiveness for renewable energy and their long-term decarbonization strategies. France is ranked as the most attractive destination, while Russia ranks last. The report finds that most G20 countries lack binding long-term strategies and sufficient renewable energy targets to meet the Paris Agreement goals, although some previous stragglers like Saudi Arabia and Turkey are improving their policy environments.

The Union of Concerned Scientists ranked U.S. states on their clean energy momentum using 12 metrics divided into technical progress, direct effects, and policy environments. California ranked first overall, followed by Vermont and Massachusetts. The analysis found that 13 percent of U.S. electricity was generated from renewable energy in 2015, and 36 percent of generating capacity being built between 2016 and 2019 is expected to be renewable. Significant reductions in power plant emissions were noted between 2011 and 2015, with sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and carbon dioxide declining by 47, 24, and 11 percent, respectively.

The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) evaluated the 50 US states using 12 indicators to rank their progress in clean energy, focusing on renewable energy generation, energy efficiency, and transport electrification. California leads the ranking, followed by Vermont and Massachusetts. The analysis highlights that clean energy progress is tangible across the US, with wind farms in 41 states and over half a million electric vehicles on the road. The report argues that state-level leadership is critical for job creation and public health improvements, and recommends that states adopt multi-dimensional policies, facilitate corporate participation, and improve energy equity for low-income and minority communities.

The EU Climate Leader Board ranks EU member states on their support for the Effort Sharing Regulation across five categories: starting point, ETS surplus loophole, land use loophole, governance, and ambition level. Sweden ranks highest with a score of 67, while Malta ranks lowest with a score of 2. The analysis concludes that no EU country is currently doing enough to make the regulation compatible with the Paris Agreement.

The report finds that European drugstore retailers generally fail to implement strategic planning for resource efficiency, with most lacking overarching goals to reduce the resource footprint of their product ranges. While some companies implement isolated measures, such as using recycled paper or reducing plastic bags, there is a systemic lack of transparent, annual reporting on results. The document highlights that a 20% reduction in resource consumption for daily goods is already possible through the adoption of existing alternatives like concentrated detergents and compressed deodorants.

The Union of Concerned Scientists' 2007 rankings identify Honda as the 'Greenest Automaker' and DaimlerChrysler as the most polluting based on 2005 emissions data. The analysis evaluates eight companies representing 96 percent of the U.S. vehicle market, using a 50/50 weighting of smog-forming pollutants (NOx and NMOG) and global warming pollutants (CO2-equivalent). While Honda and Toyota lead in consistency across vehicle classes, the report notes that conventional technologies could reduce global warming emissions by 40 percent, and hybrids could offer further reductions.

The report ranks the 'Big Six' automakers—Honda, Nissan, Toyota, Ford, DaimlerChrysler, and General Motors—on their environmental performance, focusing on smog-forming and heat-trapping emissions. Honda consistently ranks as the cleanest, while General Motors has fallen to the bottom. The analysis highlights a trend where smog-forming pollution is improving due to regulation, but heat-trapping emissions remain stagnant. It specifically criticizes the use of regulatory loopholes, such as Flex-Fuel Vehicle (FFV) credits, which allow companies to artificially inflate fuel economy figures.

The report provides a comprehensive mapping of the global think tank landscape, identifying 5,080 such institutions worldwide. It specifically highlights the 'go-to' think tanks through a selection process involving peer nominations and expert panels, resulting in a list of the top 10 and top 30 think tanks globally (excluding the US), as well as a separate ranking of the top 30 US-based institutions. The document also analyzes the growth and recent decline in the establishment of new think tanks, attributing these trends to factors such as the information revolution, globalization, and changing donor priorities.

The document presents a framework for aggregating localized water-risk scores into national and river basin-level rankings to support administrative decision-making and financial portfolio evaluation. It focuses on five objective physical indicators: baseline water stress, inter-annual variability, seasonal variability, flood occurrence (1985-2011), and drought severity (1901-2008). The rankings exclude subjective factors such as water governance, investment, or conservation efforts.