TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan ranked 60th on a list of 63 countries and the EU in an annual climate survey published Wednesday (Nov. 20), a result rejected by the environment ministry as biased.

Taiwan was ranked “very low” overall in Germanwatch's 2025 Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI), up one place from the year before. The CCPI ranked Taiwan “very low” in energy use and greenhouse gas emissions and “low” in renewable energy and climate policy.

Taiwan (named “Chinese Taipei” in the report) scored 34.87 points out of 100, behind Kazakhstan, Canada, South Korea, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Iran. The top three spots on the rankings were omitted in the report and the highest performer was Denmark with a a score of 78.37.

"No country performs well enough in all index categories to achieve an overall very high rating," the report said.

The CCPI said its experts, including Environmental Quality Protection Foundation Chair Hsieh Ying-shih (謝英士) and Mom Loves Taiwan Executive Director K.J Hsu (徐光蓉), welcomed Taiwan’s Climate Change Response Act and the net zero 2050 target. However, they said Taiwan's short-term targets are too low.

The CCPI criticized Taiwan’s lack of phase-out plans for oil and gas power generation. It also noted that solar installations do not require environmental impact assessment in most areas.

Environment Minister Peng Chi-ming (彭啟明) responded to the report on Wednesday and said the CCPI’s methodology is controversial, per CNA. He said it is inappropriate to solely quote a “biased” report to judge Taiwan’s carbon reduction efforts.

Peng said that while he does not accept the comparison, the report is not entirely without reference value. He said the government will continue to listen and observe, and said Taiwan will receive a better ranking after the government’s four-year term.

Deputy director of the ministry’s Climate Change Agency Huang Wei-ming (黃偉鳴) noted that Taiwan had performed better on other rankings. He pointed to Yale University’s Environmental Performance Index in which Taiwan ranked 60th overall out of 180 countries.

The ministry also rejected the results of the CCPI report last year.

The CCPI said 40% of a country's score is based on greenhouse gas emissions, 20% on the use of renewable energy, 20% on energy use, and 20% on climate policy. The CCPI said 80% of the assessment is based on quantitative data from internationally recognized institutions.