The threat posed by climate change has fast become one of the hottest topics on the planet.

The "Climate Change Performance Index 2015" (CCPI) assessed the green credentials of 58 countries that are said to be responsible for over 90 percent of global energy-related CO₂ emissions.

The index, which is produced by lobbying groups Germanwatch and Climate Action Network Europe, uses standardized criteria to assess countries' climate-protection performance.

According to the index's compilers, nowhere deserves a top-three ranking because "no country is doing enough to prevent dangerous climate change."

In this slideshow, CNBC looks at the progress made by the index's top-performing 10 countries, from Iceland in 13th place to Denmark in 4th.

The top 10 in the list is dominated by European countries. The United States finishes near the bottom of the list, in 44th, one place above China.

By Anmar Frangoul, special to CNBC.com, on Tuesday 23 December 2014.

Iceland remained in 13th place, faring well when it came to the development of "greener" emissions. This was one of the index's key indicators as it is "relatively sensitive to effective climate policy measures."

Iceland's main sources of energy come from geothermal, hydropower, oil and coal, according to the northern European country's energy authority.

France has improved its score for renewable energy, which was described in the CCPI report as "the key driver for a transition to a sustainable world."

The country is one of Europe's largest producers of wind energy, although its wind power installations fell by 24 percent in 2013, according to the European Wind Energy Association.

France is also at the cutting edge in solar energy production. This year, French company Neoen began constructing a solar energy park near Bordeaux that will have a capacity of 300 megwatts (MW) of energy on completion.

The firm says it will become Europe's largest "photovoltaic" energy plant.

Switzerland improved its score for renewable energy in the most recent index.

Hydroelectric power accounts for roughly 55 percent of domestic electricity production in Switzerland, according to the Swiss Federal Office of Energy. But despite hydropower's importance, the energy office forecasts that solar power could meet one fifth of Swiss energy demands by 2050.

Wind energy is another area rich in potential for Switzerland. The mountainous country's biggest wind farm is located on Mont Crosin, and has an output of 23.6MW.

With a 0.11 percent share of the global population, Switzerland's share of global CO₂ emissions is 0.12 percent.

The Republic of Ireland moved two places up in the index from last year, when it placed 12th.

It's not all good news, however. In May this year, the Irish Environmental Protection Agency released figures that it said showed, "Ireland faces considerable challenges in moving to a low-carbon economy."

The agency stated that Ireland would miss its European Union 2020 target of reducing greenhouse emissions by 20 percent compared to 2005 levels. "Under the best-case scenario, greenhouse gas emissions will remain relatively static," it said.

Ireland's share of global CO₂ emissions is 0.10 percent, according to the CCPI.

North Africa's Morocco is one of the few emerging markets that perform highly on clean energy. The country moved up six places in the CCPI, and was commended for its increasing number of solar and wind projects.

Notably, Morocco is building a vast 160MW solar polar installation called Noor I, in Ouarzazate, south east of Marrakesh.

However, the index compilers said Morocco was still a "poor" performer in terms of renewable energy.

Cyprus jumped to eighth in the latest index, up from 27th place in the previous year. Its share of global CO₂ emissions is just 0.02 percent.

According to RES LEGAL, which looks at regulations on renewable energy in Europe, "Cyprus promotes renewable electricity generation through a subsidy and a net metering scheme."

Earlier this year, Yiorgos Lakkotrypis, minister of energy, commerce, industry and tourism for Cyprus, stated that his country had, "Installed, and connected to the grid, 146.7 megawatt of wind parks, 36.5MW of photovoltaic systems and 9.7MW of biomass utilization units."

Portugal held its position of seventh in the index, with the country's share of world CO₂ emissions at 0.13 percent.

The Mediterranean country is one of the world's leading nations for use of renewable energy. In the first quarter of 2013, 70 percent of energy consumption in Portugal was supplied by renewables, according to domestic company Redes Energéticas Nacionais.

Portugal is home to Alto Minho, one of the biggest onshore wind farms in Europe, with 120 turbines and a capacity of 240 megawatts.

The U.K. fell one place in the list due to what the CCPI described as "some retrograde steps."

Nevertheless, the country has a range of initiatives aimed at reducing emissions, including the 2008 Climate Change Act, described by the government as the world's first legally binding climate change target.

By 2050, the U.K. aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent from a 1990 baseline.

Swedish emissions have declined by about 70 per cent over the last five years, according to the CCPI.

The Swedish government aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40 per cent by 2020, and to derive at least half of energy from renewable sources.

Even more ambitious is Sweden's target of zero net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050.

For the third year running, Denmark came top in the rankings. The index's compilers praised the Scandinavian country for its ambitious renewable energy and emissions reduction policies.

The CCPI stated that Danish emissions had "more or less" steadily declining since 1997. The country's commitment to generating half of its electricity consumption from wind energy by 2020 was also praised.