Ecological world

                                                 Major economies outside  Japan  Japan (50th) continues to be affected by the consequences of the Fukushima nuclear accident and in particular by the high costs of energy imports and increased CO2 emissions. Japan also demonstrates the challenges that nations can face from sudden supply disruption and the need for greater diversification in the power supply. The country’s CO2 emissions from electricity production have increased by 25% to 562 gCO2/kWh since 2008, while the share of alternatives and nuclear energy dropped from 17% in 2008 to 5% last year. Despite the introduction of aggressive feed-in tariffs for renewable energy in July 2012 (15), the contribution of renewable energy is still too limited to reverse this trend. Japan’s government is now seeking to restart some nuclear reactors to cut the nation’s dependence on imported energy. The largest among the fast-growing economies are pressed by the need to support ec

                   Major economies outside The  United Kingdom Similarly, the United Kingdom (16th) has ambitious policies to reduce its carbon footprint. The country had 12.4 GW of wind capacity at the end of 2014 (14), increasing the shares of alternative and nuclear energy in its mix from 13% in 2009 to 15% in 2013. The sub-indexes related to environmental sustainability and energy access and security both benefitted from this trend. The UK Green Investment Ban k, created and owned by the UK government, has been an important force backing green projects on commercial terms and mobilizing other private-sector capital in the country’s economy.