For several years in a row, Sweden was ranked highest in the annual Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) report produced by the organization Germanwatch. In the 2026 report, Sweden drops for the third year in a row and is now nine countries ahead of it (the ranking is 13, but the first three places are empty because no country meets the requirements).
It feels sad, says Johanna Alkan Olsson, associate professor at the Center for Environmental and Climate Science at Lund University.
"Changed policy"
Even though Sweden continues to lose two positions in this year's ranking compared to last year, we are still highly ranked. Johanna Alkan Olsson says that there is a great deal of knowledge out there in the country's authorities. At the same time, she notices that the climate strategists who are trained in Lund are having more difficulty getting jobs in the field.
It may be that there is saturation, but I would say that it is also about a change in policy.
Sweden scores high on emissions and very high on renewable energy, but low on climate policy and very low on energy use. The latter, says Johanna Alkan Olsson, is because we live large and sparsely in a cold climate.
CCPI highlights Sweden's carbon tax as an example, but notes that the government has weakened Sweden's climate policy.
Best in the world
The best in the world is still Denmark, followed by the United Kingdom and Morocco.
On Monday, Denmark also announced a binding target to reduce its emissions by at least 82 percent by 2035 compared to 1990 levels and to invest 4 billion Danish kronor (5.9 billion Swedish kronor) annually to achieve this. This is one percentage point more than the United Kingdom, which previously had the most ambitious target.
It is crucial that we send a brave and clear signal in the times we live in, said Climate Minister Lars Aagaard, according to Bloomberg, when he presented the goal in connection with the climate summit in Belém.
(1–3) are empty. (No country meets the highest requirements)
4. Denmark (4*)
5. United Kingdom (6)
6. Morocco (8)
7. Chile (12)
8. Luxembourg (13)
9. Lithuania (18)
10. Netherlands (5)
11. Norway (9)
12. Portugal (15)
13. Sweden (11)
14. Spain (19)
15. Pakistan (31)
* Last year's ranking.
Source: CCPI 2026
