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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.