Australia worst performer on climate change among industrial nations, report says
Reversal of green policies by Tony Abbott's conservative government sees country fall 21 places in rankings, while Denmark is first
Australia has been named the worst-performing industrial country in the world on climate change in a report released at international negotiations in Peru.
The climate change performance index ranked Denmark as the best-performing country in the world, followed by Sweden and Britain.
Among the world's top 10 emitters, Germany was ranked the highest at 22. Australia was second from bottom overall, above Saudi Arabia - which was not classified as industrial.
The report states: "The new conservative Australian government has apparently made good on last year's announcement and reversed the climate policies previously in effect. As a result, the country lost a further 21 positions in the policy evaluation compared to last year, thus replacing Canada as the worst-performing industrial country."
China, the world's biggest emitter, was in 45th spot - one below the US, which is the world's second largest emitter of greenhouse gases that cause climate change.
But in an indication of the challenge facing governments, the report said if every country in the world performed as well as the highest-ranking countries then global temperatures would still likely rise more than two degrees Celsius - a level considered to be dangerous.