China, Hong Kong slip in energy sustainability ranking, says World Energy Council
World council blames weaker energy security for drop in position for two consecutive years
The mainland and Hong Kong have slipped in their energy sustainability world ranking for two years in a row because of weaker energy security, according to the World Energy Council.
Mainland China's overall ranking dropped to 78 out of 129 nations graded, from 76 last year and 74 in 2011. Hong Kong's fell to 40 from 38 last year and 31 in 2011, according to a report published last month by the United Nations-accredited body.
Countries and regions are ranked on three performance criteria: energy supply security; affordability and equity of access; and environmental sustainability. The overall rankings are captured by an "energy sustainability index" that also incorporates a country or region's political, social and economic strength.
Joan MacNaughton, the executive chair of the body's world energy trilemma study group, said the fall in rankings did not necessarily mean a lack of improvement on absolute terms. She said it could signal a need to catch up with other nations. "A fall in ranking means a country or region has to redouble its effort to improve," she said.
Based in London, the World Energy Council is an international body with representation from government, business, academia and other energy-related stakeholders. Its rankings are based on an analysis of 23 indicators spread across the energy security, equity and environmental mitigation criteria.
The decline in mainland China's overall ranking was driven by the fall in its energy security ranking to 18 from 12 last year and 10 in 2011.
It saw ranking declines in five out of six underlying indicators, including the ratio of energy production to consumption, energy distribution losses as a percentage of generation, oil product inventory and two indicators on energy imports reliance.