India Slips to 28th in the Climate Change Performance Index 2027: What the Ranking Measures
India fell five places to 28th in the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) 2027, with a score of 60.85. It was 23rd in the previous edition and 10th in CCPI 2025, so it has dropped 18 places in two years.
The index was released on the sidelines of the COP31 climate summit in Antalya, Turkey. It is published by Germanwatch and the NewClimate Institute, and covers 64 countries and the European Union, which together produce over 90% of the world's greenhouse gases.
India's overall rating is "medium". It got a "high" rating for its renewable energy trend. Non-fossil sources (solar, wind, hydro, nuclear) reached 50% of installed electricity capacity by June 2025, five years ahead of the 2030 target.
The report raised concerns about India's dependence on coal, on imported oil and gas, and about gaps in the power grid and battery storage. An estimated 2.3 TWh of solar power was "curtailed" (produced but not used, because the grid could not take it) between late May and December 2025.
Denmark is the highest-ranked country (score 84.05), followed by Lithuania and Luxembourg. As usual, no country got an overall "very high" rating, so the top three places stay empty.
Among G20 members, only the United Kingdom is rated "high". Saudi Arabia (65th), Russia (66th) and the United States (67th) are at the bottom. The EU rose one place to 19th. The environment ministry did not accept the assessment, saying India has performed consistently and that continued coal use is stated policy.
Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI)
The Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) is a yearly report card that ranks countries on how well they are fighting climate change. It is prepared by two independent research groups based in Germany, Germanwatch and the NewClimate Institute, and released every year during the UN climate summit (COP). It does not look only at what a country promises. It looks at what the country is actually doing, and how well its policies match the goal of keeping warming well below 2°C.
India's fall to 28th comes from the way the CCPI scores countries. Its strong renewables growth earned a "high" mark, but its continued reliance on coal pulls down the heavy 40% emissions category. This is why a country can add clean energy fast and still slip in the ranking.
UNFCCC and the Conference of the Parties (COP)
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is the main world treaty on climate change, agreed in 1992 at the Rio Earth Summit. The Conference of the Parties (COP) is the yearly meeting of all countries that have joined it. It is the treaty's highest decision-making body, where countries negotiate rules on cutting emissions, adapting to climate change and climate finance. Big agreements like the Kyoto Protocol (COP3, 1997) and the Paris Agreement (COP21, 2015) were adopted at COPs.
The CCPI 2027 was released at COP31 in Antalya. Releasing it there puts public pressure on countries, including India, while they negotiate their next steps on climate action.
Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) Under the Paris Agreement
A Nationally Determined Contribution, or NDC, is a country's own climate action plan under the Paris Agreement. In it, each country says how much it will cut or limit its greenhouse gas emissions, and how it will adapt to climate change. Countries must submit a new, stronger NDC every five years. The CCPI's climate policy category partly checks whether a country's NDC is ambitious enough.
The CCPI judged India's 2035 targets as not strong enough to shift it away from coal, even though India met its 2030 capacity goal early. The gap between installed clean capacity and actual clean generation is a key reason for the lower score.
- CCPI 2027: India 28th, score 60.85, rating "medium"; down from 23rd (CCPI 2026) and 10th (CCPI 2025)
- Publishers: Germanwatch and NewClimate Institute; covers 64 countries + EU (over 90% of global emissions)
- Released at COP31, Antalya, Turkey, November 2026
- Top three ranks empty; Denmark highest-ranked (84.05), then Lithuania and Luxembourg
- G20: only the UK rated "high"; ten G20 members rated "very low"; bottom three are Saudi Arabia (65th), Russia (66th), USA (67th)
- EU: 19th, rating "medium"
- CCPI weights: emissions 40%, renewables 20%, energy use 20%, climate policy 20%
- India's non-fossil installed capacity reached 50% by June 2025; 2035 NDC target about 60%; emissions intensity cut target 47% by 2035 (from 2005 levels)