Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Manmohan well up in global green leader ranking

New Delhi, Nov 10: Manmohan Singh has done quite well among global leaders on initiatives to fight climate change, according to a ranking prepared by the NGO Greenpeace. US President Barack Obama has fared the worst, while the premier of Tuvalu has come out tops.

Leaders of all the major developing countries, India, China, Brazil and South Africa fared far better than their counterparts from industrialised countries in the Greenpeace rating, prepared after the last round of preparatory talks for the Copenhagen climate summit ended in Barcelona on last Friday. A spokesperson of the international NGO Greenpeace said here on Tuesday: “Developing country leaders were ranked on the basis of greenhouse gas emission reductions from the business-as-usual scenario, frequent measuring and reporting of emissions, transparency of mitigation actions, forest and biodiversity protection, ensuring real and additional climate benefits, guaranteeing the rights of indigenous peoples and national emission reduction plans.”

On this basis, Manmohan Singh scored 53 out of 100. The big four among developing countries was led by Jacob Zuma of South Africa with 63, followed by Hu Jintao of China with 59. Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva brought up the rear with 50. The developing countries were led by Apisai Lelemia, the prime minister of Tuvalu, who scored 87 out of 100. The little archipelago in the Pacific Ocean is critically endangered as the sea level rises due to global warming and has taken a number of urgent steps to save the citizens of his country.

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