France was one of the first countries to create a Ministry of the Environment, in 1971.[66] Although France is one of the most industrialised and developed countries, it is ranked only seventeenth by carbon dioxide emissions, behind such less populous nations as Canada, Saudi Arabia or Australia. This situation results from the French government's decision to invest in nuclear power in 1974 (after the 1973 oil crisis[67]), which now accounts for 78% of France's electricity production[68] and explains why France pollutes less than comparable countries.[69][70]