India ranks 168th on Environmental Performance Index .

June 8,2020

According to the researchers at Yale and Columbia universities, India ranked 168th out of 180 countries in 2020 EPI.

What is Environmental Performance Index?

  • EPI is a biennial scorecard of national results on a range of sustainability issues – prepared by Yale University and Columbia University in collaboration with the World Economic Forum.
  • It records displays the environmental performance of the countries and offers practical guidance to improve their performance.
  • This index was first published in 2002 to supplement the environmental targets set forth in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.
  • The 2020 EPI features new metrics that gauge waste management, carbon dioxide emissions from land cover change, and emissions of fluorinated gases, all important drivers of climate change.
  • The findings were released in June 2020.

Highlights of EPI 2020:

  • EPI Index 2020 measured the environmental performance of 180 countries.
    • The index considered 32 indicators of environmental performance and included 10-year trends in environmental performanceat the national and global levels.
    • Denmark topped the index with a score of 82.5.
  • India’ Performance:

    • With a score of 27.6 /100 in the 2020 EPI ,India  has performed badly among the South Asian Countries with only  Afghanistan below it in the tally.
    • India scored below the average on all five key parameters on environmental health,— air quality, sanitation and drinking water, heavy metals and waste management.

    • It has also scored below the regional average on parameters related to biodiversity and ecosystem services also.
    • India was at second position after Pakistan on ‘climate change’ among the South-Asia countries..
    • A ten-year comparison progress report in the index showed that India slipped on climate-related parameters.
    • The report indicated that black carbon, carbon dioxide emissions and greenhouse emissions per capita have increased in ten years.

Steps Ahead:

  • With public inputs in policymaking and a more targeted regulatory mechanism, India can improve.
  • India needs to re-double national sustainability efforts on all fronts.
  • It needs to focus on a wide spectrum of sustainability issues, with a high-priority to critical issues such as air and water quality, biodiversity and climate change.

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