BERLIN — A new study suggests Canada ranks second to last among G8 countries when it comes to addressing global warming.

Only the United States scores lower on the Group of Eight Climate Scorecard, released Thursday by the World Wildlife Fund.

The study also found that none of the eight countries are making improvements large enough to prevent drastic temperature increases.

The World Wildlife Fund say none of the G8 countries are even half-way to meeting ideal emissions targets.

It says Britain has done the most to reach emissions targets set out in the Kyoto Protocol, with France and Germany close behind. Following in order are Italy, Japan, Russia, Canada and the United States.

The scorecards were released ahead of next week's gathering of the Group of Eight on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido.

Regine Guenther, director of the World Wildlife Fund Climate Change Program in Germany, told reporters in the German capital that G8 leaders should commit to reducing emissions in their countries by 40 per cent by 2020 and 80 per cent by 2050.

"If we don't achieve that, the world's climate will change in ways that we can't even imagine today," Guenther said.

The scorecard was compiled by Ecofys, a Dutch consulting company, and commissioned by the World Wildlife Fund and insurer Allianz SE.

Joachim Faber, an Allianz board member who helped compile the scorecards, said a global emissions trading market is important to fighting climate change, and that the EU should lead its development.

"The EU-specific trading system we have at the moment must serve as model system for one that we can found outside the EU, for the world economy," he said.

The study also analyzed - but did not rank - five of the world's fastest growing economies: Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa.

"These countries cannot be measured with the same ruler as industrialized countries," the study said.