We're number 47! Australia has been ranked 47th out of 56 nations covered by the Climate Change Performance Index, conducted by Germanwatch.

That's three places behind the Ukraine, four behind Indonesia, but six ahead of the USA and seven ahead of China.

Sweden is number one on the index, with the UK at two. Interestingly, India is at nine. Saudi Arabia drags the chain at 56.

The one area that bogs Australia down badly is in the realm of climate change policy.

Anoth

Firstly, a declaration of slight personal regret today. I was unable to attend the Walk Against Warming in Sydney this morning because it was... er, too cold.

The fact is that I am still recovering from the effects of a rather aggressive little URTI earlier this week. Despite the weather there were still 10,000 people who did the march from Martin Place to the Botanic Gardens, which is great news. More demonstrations around the world on November 4 coming up.

Sir Nicholas Stern's costings of the impact of climate change are massive, yet I feel that they could still be an underestimate.

The report by Sir Nicholas Stern on the projected impact of climate change is out, as we all know by now. It is available in full from the British Treasury web site.

I'm flagging it now till I read the 27-page executive summary and then make some comments based upon that.