A comprehensive assessment of EU member state climate policies has rated the UK’s overall climate policy effectiveness as poor. On a scale from A (excellent) to G (poor) it receives an E rating, trailing behind Germany, Denmark, Ireland and Sweden, which perform only slightly better with a D rating.

The report, prepared by WWF in collaboration with consultants Ecofys, rates member states on 83 indicators of effectiveness for existing short and long term policies. It is based on an online, regularly updated Climate Policy Tracker.

Despite the UK gaining a good B rating for overarching long-term climate policy legislation, mainly due to the Climate Change Act 2008, the report also highlights UK weaknesses, particularly in implementation.

The potential difficulties of implementing such an ambitious piece of legislation as the Climate Change Act was a factor in the intial development of this research project, so unsurprised that WWF/Ecofys have picked up the point.

The Climate Policy Tracker homepage is here, the UK page is here and the methodology (pdf) is here.