India ranks 168th on Environmental Performance Index 2020

About Environment Performance Index (EPI)

• Environment Performance Index offers a scorecard that highlights environmental performance and provides practical guidance for countries that aspire to move toward a sustainable future.
• It provides a fact-based data-driven summary of the state of sustainability around the world.
• It provides ranking as well as the numerical score of the countries.
• It is published and prepared by Yale University and Columbia University in collaboration with the World Economic Forum.
• It is funded by The McCall MacBain Foundation of Canada.
• Environment Performance Index was first published in 2002.
• Before EPI, Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI) was published between 1999 and 2005 to show the level of environmental sustainability.
• It was designed to supplement the environmental targets set under the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.

Performance Indicators of EPI

• Air quality
• Sanitation and drinking water
• Heavy metals
• Waste management
• Ecosystem Viability
• Biodiversity
• Ecosystem services
• Climate change
• Pollution Emission
• Agriculture
• Water Resources

India’s Performance

• India secured 168th rank in Environment Performance Index 2020.
• India scored 27.6 out of 100 in the EPI 2020.
• In 2018, India was ranked was 177 with a score of 27.6 out of 100.
• The EPI report indicated the lower rank of India due to black carbon, carbon dioxide emissions and greenhouse emissions per capita in the last ten years.
• India scored below the regional average score in 5 key parameters on environmental health, including air quality, sanitation and drinking water, heavy metals, and waste management.
• All South Asian countries, except Afghanistan with rank 178 were ahead of India in the EPI ranking.
• India was at second position after Pakistan on ‘climate change’ category among the South-Asia countries.

Global Performance

• Environment Performance Index 2020 was topped by Denmark with 82.5 score out of 100.
• Denmark was followed by Luxembourg (82.3 score), Switzerland (81.5 score), United Kingdom (81.3 score) and France (80 score).
• United States of America secured 24^th rank with a score of 69 out of 100.
• The countries that lacked behind India were Burundi, Haiti, Chad, Soloman Islands, Madagascar, Guinea, Côte d’Ivoir, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, Myanmar and Liberia.

South Asian Countries Performance

• None of the South Asian country secured any rank in top 100.
• Among the South Asian countries, Bhutan secured the highest rank of 107^th with a score 39.3.
• Bhutan was followed by Sri Lanka with 107 rank and Maldives with rank 127^th 
• India secured second last position among the South Asian regions ahead of only Afghanistan with rank 178.

Need for Environmental Performance Index

• EPI indicators provide a gauge at a national scale of establishing environmental policy targets.
• EPI provides scorecard that highlights leaders and laggards in environmental performance.
• It is a way to spot problems, set targets, track trends, understand outcomes, and identify best policy practices for sustainable development.
• It also helps the government to refine their policy agendas, facilitate communications with key stakeholders, and maximize the return on environmental investments.
• Overall EPI rankings indicate towards the countries that are best addressing the environmental challenges that every nation faces which can assist the other nations for environment policy framing.

Measures for India:

• India needs to enhance national sustainability efforts on all fronts.
• The country needs to focus on a wide spectrum of sustainability issues with a high priority on critical issues like air and water quality, biodiversity, and climate change.
• India needs to frame proper environmental policies and laws that can meet the sustainability target at the global level.

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