Sweden has the best overall record on a range of environ- mental and social issues
As Euro 2008 kicks off in Austria and Switzerland this week with no British teams involved, a new quick web guide has appeared to help us decide which of the remaining 16 competing nations most deserves our support. Who should I Cheer For sensibly ignores footballing talent and instead ranks each country by ten criteria including spending on health, aid and the military, carbon emissions and renewable energy production.
Figures for the UK are also included in the list for comparative purposes and, guess what, we don't come out too well, particularly on the key climate change factors. The UK has the third highest carbon emissions (10.2 tonnes per person) behind the Netherlands and Germany, and comes joint last in terms of electricity generated from renewables (just 4 per cent).
Given that we are acknowledged to have some of the best renewables resources in the whole of Europe, and a government supposedly committed to setting and meeting ambitious targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, it seems absurd that we are languishing at the foot of the renewables table well behind places like Romania (34 per cent) and Turkey (31 per cent), let alone France and Germany (both on 10 per cent). And they are all better at football than us as well. Oh, the shame of it!
Find out more and choose your team at www.whoshouldicheerfor.com.
