Ecological world

Among those leading the fight against the massive Indian-owned Carmichael coal project in Australia's Queensland state is 21-year-old Murrawah Johnson of the Wangan and Jagalingou aboriginal people, the traditional owners of the land where the proposed mine is to be located. Murrawah Johnson, 21, of the Wangan and Jagalingou Family Council, is among those standing in the way of the huge Carmichael coal mine project in Australia's Queensland state. Photo courtesy of Murrawah Johnson. "Our people are the unique people from that country," says Murrawah, whose name means ‘rainbow' in the indigenous Gubbi Gubbi language. "That is who we are in our identity, in our culture, in our song and in our dance," she adds. The Wangan and Jagalingou, numbering up to 500 people, regard the Carmichael coal mine as a threat to their very existence and have repeatedly rejected the advances of Adani Mining, the company behind the project. The traditional owner...

                              Major economies outside India Finally, India (90th) is facing a vast array of challenges in the power sector in order to meet its growth targets. Nevertheless, electrification appears to have progressed, with the proportion of the population covered having grown over the past six years by 4 percentage points to 79%. The need to become more energy-efficient, more diverse and less carbon-intensive is especially acute for major emerging economies, making it critical to progress with government responses to these pressures through energy reform. The following section assesses the countries that have significantly increased their EAPI scores as a consequence of policy decisions

                                          Major economies outside China The performance of China (94th) has been relatively stable, and is an example of how the scale of energy architecture can induce inertia in an environment of rapid change. The country now imports 12.7% of the energy consumed, compared to 8% in 2009. Overall, some good signals exist, such as the government’s efforts to curb pollution levels and the strong progress in providing access to energy. However, its sustainability metrics still lag behind many countries, with the share of non-fossil fuels decreasing by 2% since 2009.

                  Major economies outside Brazil  Brazil (25th) is the top performer among the BRIC nations ( Brazil, Russia, India and China ). It benefits from a diversified energy mix with a considerable share of low-carbon energy, and a growing domestic oil and gas sector providing revenues and reducing the need for energy imports. With its electricity supply dominated by hydropower, Brazil achieves a comparatively high score for environmental sustainability. However, its energy architecture is also deteriorating; shares of alternative and nuclear energy dropped by 6% in seven years, and the country has experienced a 10% increase in CO2 emissions from electricity generation over the same period. Its score for the quality of electricity supply also decreased in 2014-2015 compared to 2008-2009.

                                                 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 t...