By Obiabin Onukwugha
Global civil society organisation against corruption, Transparency International (TI), has stated that corruption is playing a devastating role in the global climate crisis.
This is contained in the 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index report of the organization released on Tuesday, February 11, 2025 and published on its website.
The body noted that global corruption levels remain alarmingly high.
According to the report, 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.
“The report has exposed serious corruption levels across the globe, with more than two-thirds of countries scoring below 50 out of 100.
“The global average on the index has remained unchanged at 43, highlighting the need for urgent action against corruption and warning of a critical global obstacle to implementing successful climate action.
“Against a backdrop of record-breaking global warming and extreme weather events, erosion of democracy and a decline in global climate leadership, the world has its back against the ropes in its fight against the climate crisis.
“Corruption is making that fight much harder, and the international community must address the link between corruption and the climate crisis.
“The latest data 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.
“Corruption is obstructing effective climate action by hindering the adoption of ambitious policies. A recent Transparency International report highlighted the significant influence of oil and gas lobbyists at events like COP, an activity that also affects political centres around the world,” the report read in part.
Commenting on the findings, CEO of Transparency International, Maíra Martini, 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.”
According to the TI chief, “Today, corrupt forces not only shape but often dictate policies and dismantle checks and balances – silencing journalists, activists and anyone fighting for equality and sustainability.”
Martini noted: “True climate resilience demands tackling these threats directly and decisively. Vulnerable people around the world desperately need this action.”
Transparency International noted that the CPI highlights the billions of dollars of climate funds that are at risk of being stolen or misused, pointing out also that most countries that are highly vulnerable to climate change score below 50 on the CPI, while huge numbers of people are at needless risk because corruption is impairing climate projects meant to protect them.
Related Posts
This highlights the critical need for robust transparency and accountability measures to ensure the effective use of these funds.
The report read further: “Recent Transparency International research shows how corruption can undermine a “just transition” to net zero, highlighting specific examples in South Africa (41), Vietnam (40) and Indonesia (37) where insufficient safeguards have created opportunities for unscrupulous actors.
“In South Africa (41) around a billion rand (more than US$56 million) is stolen each month from Eskom, the state-owned energy provider, according to its former chief executive.
“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 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.
“Azerbaijan, host of COP29, at which at least 1,773 fossil fuel lobbyists were granted access, scored just 22. COP30 hosts Brazil will be responsible for securing the $1.3 trillion target of climate financing by 2035.
“However, in this year’s CPI it received an all-time low score of 34. South Africa (41), host of the G20 Leaders’ Summit, has dropped by three points since 2019.
“Some host countries with below-average CPI scores have also contributed to the opacity of these conferences by limiting transparency and the participation of civil society.
“This is a serious obstacle in developing effective climate policy and needs to be addressed moving towards COP30 in Brazil and the G20 Leaders’ Summit in South Africa.
“Undue influence to obstruct climate policy can happen in countries with both high and low corruption levels. However, it is in wealthy, developed countries that this interference has the most serious impact because it is undermining their work to agree on ambitious goals, reduce emissions and build resilience globally.
“Three members of the Umbrella group have significantly declining scores – the USA (65), Canada (75) and New Zealand (83),” the report further stated.
The CPI also highlighted the human cost of climate corruption, saying that land and environmental defenders are frequently at the forefront of the fight against the climate crisis, but their efforts expose them to intimidation, violence and even murder.
It noted that this is most common in countries with serious corruption problems – almost all 1,013 murders of environmental defenders since 2019 took place in countries with CPI scores below 50.
Nigeria ranked 140 out of the 180 countries examined by the TI as most corrupt country of the world scoring 26 points.
The ranking shows a progress as against the 145 ranking of Nigeria in the 2023 CPI with 25 points. Denmark remained the number one corrupt free country of the world with 90 points.
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).
