World Environmental Performance Index 2020

India ranked 168th in the twelfth edition of the Biennial Environmental Performance Index (EPI 2020 Index), which has measured the environmental performance of 180 countries, and was published by Yale University on June 4, 2020.

India’s rank was 177 (with a score of 30.57 out of 100) in 2018. The country scored 27.6 out of 100 in the 2020 index. The global index took into account 32 environmental performance indicators, providing an overview of 10-year trends in performance. environmental at national and global level.

India needs to step up its national efforts for sustainable development on all fronts, according to the index. The country needs to focus on a wide range of sustainability issues, with high priority given to critical issues such as air and water quality, biodiversity and climate change.

The 11 lagging countries behind India were: Burundi, Haiti, Chad, the Solomon Islands, Madagascar, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, Myanmar and Liberia. All South Asian countries, except Afghanistan, were ahead of India in the ranking.

Among the countries of South Asia, India was in second position (106th place) after Pakistan in “climate change”. Pakistan’s score (50.6) was the highest in the category.

A 10-year benchmark report showed that India has slipped on climate parameters. The performance of climate change was assessed on the basis of eight indicators: adjusted growth rate of emissions; composed of growth rates of four greenhouse gases and one pollutant; growth rate of carbon dioxide emissions from land cover; growth rate of greenhouse gas intensity; and per capita greenhouse gas emissions.

The report says that black carbon, carbon dioxide emissions and greenhouse gas emissions per capita have increased in 10 years. Its overall climate change score dropped 2.9 points.

The 2020 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) provides a summary based on data from the state of sustainability around the world. Using 32 performance indicators across 11 problem categories, the EPI ranks 180 countries on environmental health and ecosystem vitality.

These indicators indicated a national measure of the extent to which countries are close to established environmental policy objectives. The EPI offers a dashboard that highlights leaders and laggards in environmental performance and provides practical advice to countries aspiring to move towards a sustainable future.

EPI indicators are used to identify problems, set targets, monitor trends, understand results, and identify best policy practices. Good data and factual analysis can also help government officials refine their policy agendas, facilitate communications with key stakeholders, and maximize the return on environmental investments.

The EPI offers a powerful political tool to support efforts to achieve the goals of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and to drive society towards a sustainable future.

The EPI global ranking indicates which countries responded best to the environmental challenges facing each nation. Going beyond aggregate scores and digging deeper into data to analyze performance by problem category, policy objective, peer group, and country offers even greater value for policymakers. This granular vision and comparative perspective can help understand the determinants of environmental progress and refine policy options.

Highlights

The US is far behind other industrialized nations on environmental performance and now ranks 24th in the world.
Denmark came in first place, followed by Luxembourg and Switzerland.
The United Kingdom ranked fourth.
China, which is plagued by poor air quality, has made investments that have helped it climb to 120th place, ahead of India’s 168th-place ranking.
China is still a big polluter but has made “much more dramatic progress than other countries” as index says.
The US ranked 15th on climate. It is currently the second-biggest contributor to the climate crisis, after China. Over time, it has put more heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere than any other nation.