The 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) by Transparency International shows that many of the countries most heavily involved in international climate action, including climate-vulnerable nations and hosts of international summits such as the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP), have low and/or declining CPI scores, obstructing effective climate action.

Maíra Martini, CEO of Transparency International said: "We must urgently root out corruption before it fully derails meaningful climate action. Governments and multilateral organisations must embed anti-corruption measures into climate efforts to safeguard finance, rebuild trust and maximise impact."

The CPI highlights the billions of dollars of climate funds that are at risk of being stolen or misused with most countries that are highly vulnerable to climate change scoring below 50 on the CPI. Countries suffering the worst effects of the climate crisis have the lowest scores, including South Sudan (8), Somalia (9), and Venezuela (10). In Somalia, climate change has wreaked havoc on the country’s agricultural economy and worsened its 30 year-long conflict.

The CPI report has also revealed the extent to which key players in climate diplomacy are struggling with corruption, which its authors argue is undermining the effectiveness of multilateralism, such as the COP negotiations.

The CPI ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption on a scale of zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). For the seventh year in a row, Denmark obtains the highest score on the index (90) and is closely followed by Finland (88) and Singapore (84).

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