How the countries were rated
Step 1. Review of low-carbon scenarios:
Low-carbon scenarios for the EU and the world were reviewed to define the technical requirements to reach a low-carbon, sustainable economy by 2050. For example, the electricity supply by 2050 must be 100% generated from renewable sources, supported by an appropriate grid infrastructure and system integration.
Step 2. Definition of the best practice policy package:
A best practice policy package was defined with steps that must be implemented immediately to reach the desired ambition (a low carbon economy) in the required time frame (2050). Policy elements were identified that had to be incorporated to reach the intended target, but the ratings were neutral regarding the specific instrument used. For example, for electricity supply, the package must include sufficient and stable support for renewable electricity generation for a diverse set of technologies. It would not prescribe however, whether this support would be generated by a feed-in-tariff or a renewable energy obligation, for example.
Step 3. Evaluation of countries’ policies against the best practice policy package:
Countries were evaluated in two ways, one detailed and one simplified.
- 83 indicators were evaluated for the twelve countries with the highest emissions, plus three particularly interesting countries.
- 43 indicators were evaluated for the remaining twelve countries.
We evaluated a country’s policies against the best practice policy package using certain indicators. Indicators were evaluated per country on a scale from 0 (poor) to 4 (excellent) against defined benchmarks and aggregated the results to scores per country, per sector and per policy area. Weighting of sectors is, in principle, based on their share of emissions in the country. Weightings over policy areas are based on the necessary contribution of the area to a low carbon economy.
The summary results per sector, area and country are displayed in seven categories ‘A’ (excellent) to ‘G’ (poor), resembling the EU energy efficiency labelling for appliances.