Environmental Performance Index

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Global map of countries by Environmental Performance Index, 2024 Environmental Performance Index, 2024.png
Global map of countries by Environmental Performance Index, 2024

The Environmental Performance Index (EPI) is a method of quantifying and numerically marking the environmental performance of a state's policies, highlightning the degradation of the planet's life-supporting systems on which humanity depends. A world economy that continues to rely heavily on fossil fuels translates into ongoing air and water pollution, acidification of the oceans, and rising concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. These changes threaten the survival of species already suffering from widespread habitat loss, pushing them closer to extinction. Recent analyses show that humanity has already transgressed six out of nine critical planetary boundaries that define Earth's safe operating space — and is close to crossing a seventh.

Contents

The Environmental Performance Index (EPI) was started in 2002 by World Economic Forum in association with the Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy (Yale University) and Center for International Earth Science Information Network Earth Institute (Columbia University). The biennial EPI report harnesses the latest data sets, science, and technology to provide the most comprehensive assessment of the state of sustainability around the world. In total, the 2024 EPI report incorporates 58 indicators to rank 180 countries on their progress at mitigating climate change, safeguarding ecosystem vitality, and promoting environmental health. This broad set of metrics is a powerful tool to track progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the climate mitigation targets in the 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement, and the biodiversity protection goals in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. [2]

In 2023, the first global assessment of progress toward the goals of the Paris Agreement revealed a grim picture: the world is far off track. Despite record deployment of renewable energy, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions keep rising. As the world enters uncharted climatic territory, there is a heightened risk of crossing irreversible tipping points in the planet's climate system. [2]

Methodology

Environmental Performance Index Framework, 2024 Environmental Performance Index Framework, 2024.png
Environmental Performance Index Framework, 2024

Over time, the methodology for the EPI has been criticized for its arbitrary choice of metrics which could introduce bias, and its poor performance as an indicator for environmental sustainability. [3] Additional criticisms center on the EPI's lack of specific policy suggestions, and the index's weighting biases against data deficient countries that has led to the overlooking of ecological progress in developing countries. [3]

In 2024, India was ranked at 176 in the list and rejected the low ranking. As per a statement issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), it claimed that several indicators used in the calculation were based on unfounded assumptions and unscientific methods. [4] [5] [6]

The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe found 3 Pros: EPI provides an easily comparable index; EPI's ecosystem vitality scores are based on six constituent policy categories: water resources, agriculture, forests, fisheries, biodiversity and habitat, and climate and energy; the referenced database yields maps for each of EPI's partial indices (normalised to 0 … 100) and 3 Cons: CIESIN's EPI rather is an attempt to quantitatively represent the ecological performance of countries and companies; actual reasons for dysfunctionalities might need further research; EPI would be a more policy-relevant index. [7]

As a result of these criticisms, the number of EPI indicators has increased, and their weight has changed, to provide a better data-driven summary of the state of sustainability around the world. The 2024 index is based on 58 performance indicators grouped into 30 issue categories with an objective of environmental health, ecosystem vitality and climate change, ranking 180 countries. [8]

2024 EPI indicators and weights (%)
Policy ObjectiveWt. (%)Issue CategoryWt. (%)IndicatorWt. (%)
Ecosystem Vitality45%Biodiversity & Habitat25Marine KBA Protection12.0
Marine Habitat Protection12.0
Marine Protection Stringency2.0
Protected Areas Representativeness Index12.0
Species Protection Index16.0
Terrestrial Biome Protection10.0
Terrestrial KBA Protection10.0
Protected Area Effectiveness2.0
Protected Human Land2.0
Red List Index12.0
Species Habitat Index8.0
Bioclimatic Ecosystem Resilience2.0
Forests5Primary Forest Loss30.0
Intact Forest Landscape Loss30.0
Tree cover loss weighted by permanency25.0
Net change in tree cover10.0
Forest Landscape Integrity5.0
Fisheries2Fish Stock Status15.0
Fish Catch Discarded20.0
Bottom Trawling in EEZ25.0
Bottom Trawling in Global Ocean35.0
Regional Marine Trophic Index5.0
Air Pollution6Ozone exposure KBAs8.3
Ozone exposure croplands8.3
Adj. emissions growth rate for nitrous oxides41.7
Adj. emissions growth rate for sulfur dioxide41.7
Agriculture3Sustainable Nitrogen Management Index40.0
Phosphorus Surplus3.3
Pesticide Pollution Risk16.7
Relative Crop Yield40.0
Water Resources5Wastewater generated10.0
Wastewater collected40.0
Wastewater treated40.0
Wastewater reused10.0
Environmental Health25%Air Quality17Anthropogenic PM2.5 exposure38.2
Household solid fuels38.2
Ozone exposure8.8
NOx exposure5.9
SO2 exposure2.9
CO exposure2.9
VOC exposure2.9
Sanitation & Drinking Water5Unsafe sanitation40.0
Unsafe drinking water60.0
Heavy Metals2Lead exposure100.0
Waste Management1Waste generated per capita40.0
Controlled solid waste20.0
Waste recovery rate40.0
Climate Change30%Climate Change Mitigation30Adjusted emissions growth rate for carbon dioxide25.0
CO2 growth rate (country- specific targets)1.7
Adjusted emissions growth rate for methane10.0
Adjusted emissions growth rate for F-gases6.7
Adjusted emissions growth rate for nitrous oxide3.3
Adjusted emissions growth rate for black carbon5.0
Net carbon fluxes due to land cover change3.3
GHG growth rate adjusted by emissions intensity20.0
GHG growth rate adjusted by per capita emissions20.0
Projected emissions in 20503.3
Projected cumulative emissions to 2050 relative to carbon budget1.7
    Note: Wt. (%) is percent weights of overall EPI. Weights are rounded and may not add up to 100%. [1] [8]

    List of countries by 2024 EPI scores

    The 2024 Environmental Performance Index report ranks 180 countries and territories, based on 58 performance indicators grouped into 30 issue categories. The top five countries are Estonia, Luxembourg, Germany, Finland and the United Kingdom, while the last ones are India, Myanmar, Laos, Pakistan and Vietnam. [9] Sorting is alphabetical by country code, according to ISO 3166-1 alpha-3.

    CountryRegionValueTrendRank 2024
    Flag of the Taliban.svg  Afghanistan South Asia 31.0Increase2.svg 12.8144
    Flag of Angola.svg  Angola Sub-Saharan Africa 40.1Increase2.svg 8.2106
    Flag of Albania.svg  Albania Europe & Central Asia 52.2Increase2.svg 6.147
    Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg  United Arab Emirates Middle East & North Africa 51.6Increase2.svg 9.148
    Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina Latin America & Caribbean 47.0Increase2.svg 1.170
    Flag of Armenia.svg  Armenia Europe & Central Asia 44.9Increase2.svg 2.080
    Flag of Antigua and Barbuda.svg  Antigua and Barbuda Latin America & Caribbean 55.6Increase2.svg 1.237
    Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia East Asia & Pacific 63.1Increase2.svg 4.222
    Flag of Austria.svg  Austria Europe & Central Asia 68.9Increase2.svg 0.18
    Flag of Azerbaijan.svg  Azerbaijan Europe & Central Asia 40.5Decrease2.svg −0.3103
    Flag of Burundi.svg  Burundi Sub-Saharan Africa 33.5Decrease2.svg −1.3138
    Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium Europe & Central Asia 66.8Increase2.svg 4.914
    Flag of Benin.svg  Benin Sub-Saharan Africa 37.8Decrease2.svg −0.3119
    Flag of Burkina Faso.svg  Burkina Faso Sub-Saharan Africa 42.2Increase2.svg 0.195
    Flag of Bangladesh.svg  Bangladesh South Asia 28.1Increase2.svg 2.3148
    Flag of Bulgaria.svg  Bulgaria Europe & Central Asia 56.2Decrease2.svg −1.235
    Flag of Bahrain.svg  Bahrain Middle East & North Africa 35.3Decrease2.svg −1.4131
    Flag of the Bahamas.svg  Bahamas Latin America & Caribbean 55.9Increase2.svg 1.636
    Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg  Bosnia and Herzegovina Europe & Central Asia 46.0Increase2.svg 3.375
    Flag of Belarus.svg  Belarus Europe & Central Asia 58.2Increase2.svg 8.731
    Flag of Belize.svg  Belize Latin America & Caribbean 47.4Increase2.svg 0.967
    Flag of Bolivia.svg  Bolivia Latin America & Caribbean 45.3Increase2.svg 3.478
    Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil Latin America & Caribbean 53.0Increase2.svg 6.744
    Flag of Barbados.svg  Barbados Latin America & Caribbean 53.1Increase2.svg 2.643
    Flag of Brunei.svg  Brunei East Asia & Pacific 48.3Decrease2.svg −3.162
    Flag of Bhutan.svg  Bhutan South Asia 43.3Increase2.svg 6.889
    Flag of Botswana.svg  Botswana Sub-Saharan Africa 49.2Decrease2.svg −1.859
    Flag of the Central African Republic.svg  Central African Republic Sub-Saharan Africa 39.0Decrease2.svg −5.1111
    Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada North America 61.1Increase2.svg 3.527
    Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland Europe & Central Asia 67.8Increase2.svg 2.39
    Flag of Chile.svg  Chile Latin America & Caribbean 49.6Increase2.svg 3.057
    Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China East Asia & Pacific 35.4Increase2.svg 5.6130
    Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg  Ivory Coast Sub-Saharan Africa 42.9Increase2.svg 7.890
    Flag of Cameroon.svg  Cameroon Sub-Saharan Africa 38.6Increase2.svg 2.2114
    Flag of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.svg  Democratic Republic of the Congo Sub-Saharan Africa 39.5Increase2.svg 6.0109
    Flag of the Republic of the Congo.svg  Republic of the Congo Sub-Saharan Africa 41.6Increase2.svg 0.999
    Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia Latin America & Caribbean 49.7Increase2.svg 4.456
    Flag of the Comoros.svg  Comoros Sub-Saharan Africa 38.2Decrease2.svg −5.9115
    Flag of Cape Verde.svg  Cape Verde Sub-Saharan Africa 38.0Decrease2.svg −1.8117
    Flag of Costa Rica.svg  Costa Rica Latin America & Caribbean 55.5Increase2.svg 0.238
    Flag of Cuba.svg  Cuba Latin America & Caribbean 52.5Increase2.svg 2.546
    Flag of Cyprus.svg  Cyprus Europe & Central Asia 53.9Decrease2.svg −0.241
    Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czech Republic Europe & Central Asia 65.5Increase2.svg 0.416
    Flag of Germany.svg  Germany Europe & Central Asia 74.5Increase2.svg 4.33
    Flag of Djibouti.svg  Djibouti Middle East & North Africa 32.3Increase2.svg 0.2141
    Flag of Dominica.svg  Dominica Latin America & Caribbean 49.3Decrease2.svg −0.258
    Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark Europe & Central Asia 67.7Decrease2.svg −0.310
    Flag of the Dominican Republic.svg  Dominican Republic Latin America & Caribbean 47.7Decrease2.svg −1.166
    Flag of Algeria.svg  Algeria Middle East & North Africa 41.7Increase2.svg 3.298
    Flag of Ecuador.svg  Ecuador Latin America & Caribbean 51.3Increase2.svg 7.049
    Flag of Egypt.svg  Egypt Middle East & North Africa 43.7Increase2.svg 3.587
    Flag of Eritrea.svg  Eritrea Sub-Saharan Africa 29.0Decrease2.svg −0.3147
    Flag of Spain.svg  Spain Europe & Central Asia 64.0Increase2.svg 2.221
    Flag of Estonia.svg  Estonia Europe & Central Asia 75.7Increase2.svg 14.91
    Flag of Ethiopia.svg  Ethiopia Sub-Saharan Africa 36.3Increase2.svg 3.8125
    Flag of Finland.svg  Finland Europe & Central Asia 73.8Increase2.svg 3.14
    Flag of Fiji.svg  Fiji East Asia & Pacific 46.0Decrease2.svg −2.475
    Flag of France.svg  France Europe & Central Asia 67.0Increase2.svg 1.612
    Flag of the Federated States of Micronesia.svg  Federated States of Micronesia East Asia & Pacific 40.8Increase2.svg 0.3101
    Flag of Gabon.svg  Gabon Sub-Saharan Africa 53.3Increase2.svg 7.342
    Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom Europe & Central Asia 72.6Increase2.svg 1.35
    Flag of Georgia.svg  Georgia Europe & Central Asia 47.3Increase2.svg 6.268
    Flag of Ghana.svg  Ghana Sub-Saharan Africa 36.9Increase2.svg 1.8122
    Flag of Guinea.svg  Guinea Sub-Saharan Africa 36.5Decrease2.svg −2.9123
    Flag of The Gambia.svg  Gambia Sub-Saharan Africa 37.6Increase2.svg 0.6120
    Flag of Guinea-Bissau.svg  Guinea-Bissau Sub-Saharan Africa 42.0Decrease2.svg −0.596
    Flag of Equatorial Guinea.svg  Equatorial Guinea Sub-Saharan Africa 41.7Decrease2.svg −3.398
    Flag of Greece.svg  Greece Europe & Central Asia 67.3Increase2.svg 8.911
    Flag of Grenada.svg  Grenada Latin America & Caribbean 45.8Increase2.svg 0.476
    Flag of Guatemala.svg  Guatemala Latin America & Caribbean 32.5Decrease2.svg −2.8140
    Flag of Guyana.svg  Guyana Latin America & Caribbean 49.0Increase2.svg 2.360
    Flag of Honduras (2022-).svg  Honduras Latin America & Caribbean 40.2Increase2.svg 2.9105
    Flag of Croatia.svg  Croatia Europe & Central Asia 62.3Increase2.svg 4.924
    Flag of Haiti.svg  Haiti Latin America & Caribbean 36.4Increase2.svg 7.7124
    Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary Europe & Central Asia 59.8Decrease2.svg −1.330
    Flag of Indonesia.svg  Indonesia East Asia & Pacific 33.6Increase2.svg 5.8137
    Flag of India.svg  India South Asia 27.6Increase2.svg 4.2149
    Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland Europe & Central Asia 65.8Increase2.svg 2.815
    Flag of Iran.svg  Iran Middle East & North Africa 41.8Increase2.svg 0.097
    Flag of Iraq.svg  Iraq Middle East & North Africa 30.3Increase2.svg 6.4145
    Flag of Iceland.svg  Iceland Europe & Central Asia 64.3Increase2.svg 2.518
    Flag of Israel.svg  Israel Middle East & North Africa 48.0Increase2.svg 0.663
    Flag of Italy.svg  Italy Europe & Central Asia 60.3Increase2.svg 4.828
    Flag of Jamaica.svg  Jamaica Latin America & Caribbean 48.5Increase2.svg 1.061
    Flag of Jordan.svg  Jordan Middle East & North Africa 47.3Increase2.svg 10.168
    Flag of Japan.svg  Japan East Asia & Pacific 61.4Increase2.svg 4.226
    Flag of Kazakhstan.svg  Kazakhstan Europe & Central Asia 47.8Increase2.svg 4.065
    Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya Sub-Saharan Africa 36.9Decrease2.svg −0.2122
    Flag of Kyrgyzstan.svg  Kyrgyzstan Europe & Central Asia 42.8Increase2.svg 13.091
    Flag of Cambodia.svg  Cambodia East Asia & Pacific 31.2Increase2.svg 0.0143
    Flag of Kiribati.svg  Kiribati East Asia & Pacific 44.3Decrease2.svg −1.182
    Flag of South Korea.svg  South Korea East Asia & Pacific 50.6Increase2.svg 4.951
    Flag of Kuwait.svg  Kuwait Middle East & North Africa 44.4Decrease2.svg −1.881
    Flag of Laos.svg  Laos East Asia & Pacific 26.3Increase2.svg 2.0151
    Flag of Lebanon.svg  Lebanon Middle East & North Africa 39.9Increase2.svg 7.9108
    Flag of Liberia 23px.svg  Liberia Sub-Saharan Africa 34.3Increase2.svg 1.3135
    Flag of Saint Lucia.svg  Saint Lucia Latin America & Caribbean 51.1Increase2.svg 2.150
    Flag of Sri Lanka.svg  Sri Lanka South Asia 38.8Increase2.svg 1.8112
    Flag of Lesotho.svg  Lesotho Sub-Saharan Africa 36.9Increase2.svg 0.1122
    Flag of Lithuania.svg  Lithuania Europe & Central Asia 64.1Increase2.svg 4.620
    Flag of Luxembourg.svg  Luxembourg Europe & Central Asia 75.1Increase2.svg 3.42
    Flag of Latvia.svg  Latvia Europe & Central Asia 60.2Increase2.svg 1.229
    Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco Middle East & North Africa 39.5Increase2.svg 2.6109
    Flag of Moldova.svg  Moldova Europe & Central Asia 46.1Increase2.svg 2.874
    Flag of Madagascar.svg  Madagascar Sub-Saharan Africa 30.1Increase2.svg 0.8146
    Flag of Maldives.svg  Maldives South Asia 38.1Increase2.svg 2.8116
    Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico Latin America & Caribbean 44.2Increase2.svg 2.283
    Flag of the Marshall Islands.svg  Marshall Islands East Asia & Pacific 42.5Increase2.svg 0.894
    Flag of North Macedonia.svg  North Macedonia Europe & Central Asia 50.3Increase2.svg 1.252
    Flag of Mali.svg  Mali Sub-Saharan Africa 34.5Decrease2.svg −3.3134
    Flag of Malta.svg  Malta Middle East & North Africa 66.9Increase2.svg 4.713
    Flag of Myanmar.svg  Myanmar East Asia & Pacific 27.1Decrease2.svg −1.4150
    Flag of Montenegro.svg  Montenegro Europe & Central Asia 47.7Decrease2.svg −0.566
    Flag of Mongolia.svg  Mongolia East Asia & Pacific 37.2Increase2.svg 5.4121
    Flag of Mozambique.svg  Mozambique Sub-Saharan Africa 39.0Increase2.svg 5.2111
    Flag of Mauritania.svg  Mauritania Sub-Saharan Africa 34.6Decrease2.svg −3.5133
    Flag of Mauritius.svg  Mauritius Sub-Saharan Africa 47.3Increase2.svg 2.968
    Flag of Malawi.svg  Malawi Sub-Saharan Africa 35.1Decrease2.svg −6.7132
    Flag of Malaysia 23px.svg  Malaysia East Asia & Pacific 41.0Increase2.svg 7.3100
    Flag of Namibia.svg  Namibia Sub-Saharan Africa 44.0Decrease2.svg −0.185
    Flag of Niger.svg  Niger Sub-Saharan Africa 40.0Increase2.svg 7.3107
    Flag of Nigeria.svg  Nigeria Sub-Saharan Africa 37.9Increase2.svg 4.7118
    Flag of Nicaragua.svg  Nicaragua Latin America & Caribbean 47.4Increase2.svg 1.267
    Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands Europe & Central Asia 66.9Increase2.svg 4.413
    Flag of Norway.svg  Norway Europe & Central Asia 69.9Increase2.svg 3.37
    Flag of Nepal.svg  Nepal South Asia 33.1Increase2.svg 0.7139
    Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand East Asia & Pacific 57.3Increase2.svg 1.132
    Flag of Oman.svg  Oman Middle East & North Africa 51.3Increase2.svg 12.949
    Flag of Pakistan.svg  Pakistan South Asia 25.5Decrease2.svg −4.0152
    Flag of Panama.svg  Panama Latin America & Caribbean 52.9Increase2.svg 5.245
    Flag of Peru.svg  Peru Latin America & Caribbean 46.5Increase2.svg 3.973
    Flag of the Philippines.svg  Philippines East Asia & Pacific 32.1Increase2.svg 0.4142
    Flag of Papua New Guinea.svg  Papua New Guinea East Asia & Pacific 36.9Decrease2.svg −3.6122
    Flag of Poland.svg  Poland Europe & Central Asia 64.2Increase2.svg 1.819
    Flag of Portugal (official).svg  Portugal Europe & Central Asia 61.9Increase2.svg 4.125
    Flag of Paraguay.svg  Paraguay Latin America & Caribbean 39.5Increase2.svg 0.7109
    Flag of Qatar.svg  Qatar Middle East & North Africa 46.8Increase2.svg 5.671
    Flag of Romania.svg  Romania Europe & Central Asia 57.3Decrease2.svg −3.132
    Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Europe & Central Asia 46.7Decrease2.svg −0.172
    Flag of Rwanda.svg  Rwanda Sub-Saharan Africa 33.9Decrease2.svg −0.3136
    Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg  Saudi Arabia Middle East & North Africa 42.5Increase2.svg 9.594
    Flag of Sudan.svg  Sudan Sub-Saharan Africa 39.1Increase2.svg 3.9110
    Flag of Senegal.svg  Senegal Sub-Saharan Africa 43.8Increase2.svg 4.886
    Flag of Singapore.svg  Singapore East Asia & Pacific 53.0Increase2.svg 6.544
    Flag of the Solomon Islands.svg  Solomon Islands East Asia & Pacific 42.2Increase2.svg 1.695
    Flag of Sierra Leone.svg  Sierra Leone Sub-Saharan Africa 39.9Increase2.svg 5.3108
    Flag of El Salvador.svg  El Salvador Latin America & Caribbean 41.6Decrease2.svg −4.499
    Flag of Serbia.svg  Serbia Europe & Central Asia 49.8Decrease2.svg −5.655
    Flag of Sao Tome and Principe.svg  São Tomé and Príncipe Sub-Saharan Africa 36.2Increase2.svg 1.8126
    Flag of Suriname.svg  Suriname Latin America & Caribbean 56.9Increase2.svg 8.634
    Flag of Slovakia.svg  Slovakia Europe & Central Asia 65.1Decrease2.svg −1.617
    Flag of Slovenia.svg  Slovenia Europe & Central Asia 62.4Increase2.svg 0.023
    Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden Europe & Central Asia 70.3Increase2.svg 0.26
    Flag of Eswatini.svg  Eswatini Sub-Saharan Africa 38.7Decrease2.svg −2.4113
    Flag of Seychelles.svg  Seychelles Sub-Saharan Africa 47.9Decrease2.svg −3.964
    Flag of Chad.svg  Chad Sub-Saharan Africa 35.9Increase2.svg 2.0127
    Flag of Togo (3-2).svg  Togo Sub-Saharan Africa 35.7Decrease2.svg −1.1129
    Flag of Thailand.svg  Thailand East Asia & Pacific 45.7Increase2.svg 4.577
    Flag of Tajikistan.svg  Tajikistan Europe & Central Asia 32.3Decrease2.svg −4.2141
    Flag of Turkmenistan.svg  Turkmenistan Europe & Central Asia 40.6Increase2.svg 4.9102
    Flag of East Timor.svg  Timor-Leste East Asia & Pacific 49.9Increase2.svg 9.654
    Flag of Tonga.svg  Tonga East Asia & Pacific 40.4Decrease2.svg −7.3104
    Flag of Trinidad and Tobago.svg  Trinidad and Tobago Latin America & Caribbean 52.5Increase2.svg 1.046
    Flag of Tunisia.svg  Tunisia Middle East & North Africa 45.3Increase2.svg 0.578
    Flag of the Republic of China.svg  Taiwan East Asia & Pacific 50.1Decrease2.svg −0.153
    Flag of Tanzania.svg  Tanzania Sub-Saharan Africa 43.6Increase2.svg 5.688
    Flag of Uganda.svg  Uganda Sub-Saharan Africa 35.8Increase2.svg 4.2128
    Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine Europe & Central Asia 54.6Increase2.svg 7.339
    Flag of Uruguay.svg  Uruguay Latin America & Caribbean 44.1Increase2.svg 0.584
    Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States North America 57.2Increase2.svg 0.233
    Flag of Uzbekistan.svg  Uzbekistan Europe & Central Asia 42.6Decrease2.svg −1.393
    Flag of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.svg  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Latin America & Caribbean 54.2Increase2.svg 0.840
    Flag of Venezuela.svg  Venezuela Latin America & Caribbean 53.3Increase2.svg 1.142
    Flag of Vietnam.svg  Vietnam East Asia & Pacific 24.6Decrease2.svg −3.7153
    Flag of Vanuatu.svg  Vanuatu East Asia & Pacific 45.0Increase2.svg 9.379
    Flag of Samoa.svg  Samoa East Asia & Pacific 47.1Increase2.svg 6.069
    Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa Sub-Saharan Africa 42.7Increase2.svg 4.492
    Flag of Zambia.svg  Zambia Sub-Saharan Africa 46.7Increase2.svg 3.972
    Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe Sub-Saharan Africa 51.6Increase2.svg 9.548

    EPI scores vs. GDP per capita, 2024

    EPI scores vs GDP per capita, 2024
Countries' wealth is a strong predictor of their overall environmental performance, but some countries vastly outperform their economic peers, while others lag. EPI vs GDP per capita, 2024.png
    EPI scores vs GDP per capita, 2024
    Countries’ wealth is a strong predictor of their overall environmental performance, but some countries vastly outperform their economic peers, while others lag.

    EPI scores are positively correlated with a country's wealth, although after a point, increasing wealth yields diminishing returns. At every level of economic development, though, some countries outperform their peers while others lag. Some of the poorest countries in the world outperform some of the richest. In this regard, factors other than wealth, such as investments in human development, rule of law, and regulatory quality, are stronger predictors of environmental performance. [10]

    Wealth allows countries to make investments in the infrastructure required to provide clean drinking water, safely manage waste, and rapidly expand renewable energy. But wealth also leads to higher material consumption and its associated environmental impacts, such as higher rates of waste generation, GHG emissions, and ecosystem degradation. Many countries with high scores in some Ecosystem Vitality metrics — such as those measuring the pollution from pesticides and fertilizers in agriculture, the integrity of forest landscapes, and the use of destructive fishing methods — do so because their economies are stagnant and underdeveloped. [9]

    Developing countries must be careful not to repeat the mistakes of nations that followed a dirty and unsustainable path to industrialization. On the other hand, rich countries need to decouple their consumption from environmental degradation and use their wealth to help developing countries leapfrog to a path of truly sustainable development, preserving their biodiversity and other global commons for the benefit of all humankind. [1] [9] [10]

    See also

    References

    1. 1 2 3 Block, S.; Emerson, J.W.; Esty, D.C.; de Sherbinin, A.; Wendling, Z.A.; et al. (2024-10-03). "2024 Environmental Performance Index. Technical Appendix" (PDF). epi.yale.edu. New Haven, CT: Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy. Retrieved 2024-10-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
    2. 1 2 3 4 "2024 Environmental Performance Index". epi.yale.edu. New Haven, CT: Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy & Center for International Earth Science Information Network Earth Institute, Columbia University. 2024-10-03. Retrieved 2024-10-24.
    3. 1 2 Kanmani, Aiyshwariya; Obringer, Renee; Rachunok, Benjamin; Nateghi, Roshanak (2020-01-11). "Assessing Global Environmental Sustainability Via an Unsupervised Clustering Framework". Sustainability. 12 (2): 563. Bibcode:2020Sust...12..563P. doi: 10.3390/su12020563 . Retrieved 2024-10-24.
    4. Banerjee, Ankush. "What Happened to Green India? Ranked Lowest as per Environmental Performance Index, India Disputes Methodology". Business Insider. Retrieved 2024-10-24.
    5. "India's lagging sustainability performance". Hindustan Times. 2022-06-27. Retrieved 2024-10-24.
    6. Roy, Esha (2022-06-11). "Explained: What is the environment index, and why has India questioned it?". The Indian Express. Retrieved 2024-10-24.
    7. "Environmental performance index EPI. Pros & Cons". unece.org. United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. Retrieved 2024-10-24.
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