Green Economy Index Ranks Australia Dead Last For Leadership, 37th Of 60 Overall
Australia has fallen sharply in international green economy rankings, coming last out of 60 countries for performance on political leadership and climate change, and 37th overall, new research shows.
Our performance now lags behind developing nations such as Kenya, Zambia, Ethiopia and Rwanda, according to the 2014 Global Green Economy Index. A green economy is one that improves the quality of life while reducing its environmental impact.
"Australia has seen a sharp decline since the change of government," said Jeremy Tamanini, chief executive of Dual Citizen, the Washington consultancy that produced the research. "Its head of state [Tony Abbott] has a negative association with the green economy concept."
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The latest report attributes Australia's poor result for leadership to "negative [global] media coverage" and "unconstructive behaviour in international forums". It said Australia is "a rare case" – along with a handful of countries including Japan, the Netherlands and the US – that gets more credit for its green economic performance than it deserves.
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http://www.smh.com.au/business/carbon-economy/green-economy-index-2014-australia-ranked-last-for-leadership-20141020-118s1t.html