Australia has ranked 15th out of 115 countries for energy access, energy efficiency and renewable energy in the World Bank’s latest RISE report – and some of the countries ahead of us may surprise you.
The first scorecard of its kind, RISE (Regulatory Indicators for Sustainable Energy) scores reflect a snapshot of a country’s policies and regulations in the energy sector based on an exhaustive set of indicators.
“RISE offers policymakers and investors the most detailed country-level insight yet into how we can level the playing field for renewable energy worldwide. Smart policy can accelerate this transition,” said Rachel Kyte, CEO and Special Representative to the UN Secretary-General on Sustainable Energy for All
Australia achieved a perfect score on energy access (100), and what are considered good scores on energy efficiency (72 – ranking 14th) and renewable energy (73 – ranking 24th).
Countries ahead of Australia in overall scores were:
- Denmark
- Canada
- United States
- Netherlands
- Germany
- United Kingdom
- Romania
- Czech Republic
- France
- Italy
- South Korea
- Switzerland
- Belgium
- Mexico
Given the renewable energy resources Australia has, some might be surprised by our no.24 ranking on this aspect and score of 73. Countries ranking higher than Australia for renewable energy include Poland, Pakistan, Belgium and Kazakhstan.
A couple of the areas that pulled down our score were incentives and regulatory support for renewable energy and network connection and pricing
RISE also notes all OECD high-income countries operate carbon pricing mechanisms, except Argentina, Australia and Chile. Australia and Turkey are the only countries to have introduced a mandatory reporting requirement of greenhouse gas emissions by emitters without a carbon pricing mechanism.
The RISE report summary on Australia can be viewed here. The full 268 page report can be downloaded here (PDF).
The 115 countries covered account for more than 90 percent of global population and energy consumption.
Generally, the latest RISE scorecard has found many developing nations are emerging as sustainable energy leaders, but significant gaps in policy and regulatory frameworks continue to pose a challenge. For example, energy efficiency is still often being overlooked in policy agendas.
RISE will be updated every two years.
