Environmental Performance Index
Encyclopedia
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
performance of a country's policies. This index was developed from the Pilot Environmental Performance Index, first published in 2002, and designed to supplement the environmental targets set forth in the U.N. Millennium Development Goals
Millennium Development Goals
The Millennium Development Goals are eight international development goals that all 193 United Nations member states and at least 23 international organizations have agreed to achieve by the year 2015...
.
The EPI was preceded by the Environmental Sustainability Index
Environmental Sustainability Index
The Environmental Sustainability Index ' was a composite index published from 1999 to 2005 that tracked 21 elements of environmental sustainability covering natural resource endowments, past and present pollution levels, environmental management efforts, contributions to protection of the global...
(ESI), published between 1999 and 2005. Both indexes were developed by Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
(Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy
Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy
The Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy is a joint initiative between the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies and the Yale Law School.-Mission:...
) and Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
(Center for International Earth Science Information Network) in collaboration with the World Economic Forum
World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland....
and the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
. The ESI
Environmental Sustainability Index
The Environmental Sustainability Index ' was a composite index published from 1999 to 2005 that tracked 21 elements of environmental sustainability covering natural resource endowments, past and present pollution levels, environmental management efforts, contributions to protection of the global...
was developed to evaluate environmental sustainability relative to the paths of other countries. Due to a shift in focus by the teams developing the ESI, the EPI uses outcome-oriented indicators, then working as a benchmark index that can be more easily used by policy makers, environmental scientists, advocates and the general public.
As of January 2010 three EPI reports have been released - the Pilot 2006 Environmental Performance Index, and the 2008 and 2010 Environmental Performance Index. In the 2010 scorecard, the top five countries were Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, and Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. The bottom five countries were Togo
Togo
Togo, officially the Togolese Republic , is a country in West Africa bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, on which the capital Lomé is located. Togo covers an area of approximately with a population of approximately...
, Angola
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
, Mauritania
Mauritania
Mauritania is a country in the Maghreb and West Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean in the west, by Western Sahara in the north, by Algeria in the northeast, by Mali in the east and southeast, and by Senegal in the southwest...
, the Central African Republic
Central African Republic
The Central African Republic , is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It borders Chad in the north, Sudan in the north east, South Sudan in the east, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo in the south, and Cameroon in the west. The CAR covers a land area of about ,...
, and Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
.
2008 Variables
| OBJECTIVE | |
||
| POLICY CATEGORIES | |
|
|
| INDICATORS | 1. Environmental Burden of Disease | 2. Adequate Sanitation | 4. Indoor Air Pollution |
| 3. Drinking Water | 5. Urban Particulates | ||
| 6. Local Ozone | |||
| OBJECTIVE | |
||
| POLICY CATEGORIES | |
|
|
| INDICATORS | 7. Regional Ozone | 9. Water Quality Index | 11. Conservation Risk Index |
| 8. Sulfur Dioxide Emissions | 10. Water Stress | 12. Effective Conservation | |
| 13. Critical Habitat Protection | |||
| 14. Marine Protected Areas | |||
| POLICY CATEGORIES | |
|
|
| POLICY SUB-CATEGORY | |
|
|
| INDICATORS | 15. Growing Stock | 16. Marine Trophic Index | 18. Irrigation Stress |
| 17. Trawling Intensity | 19. Agricultural Subsidies | ||
| 20. Intensive Cropland | |||
| 21. Burnt Land Area | |||
| 22. Pesticide Regulation | |||
| POLICY CATEGORIES | |
||
| INDICATORS | 23. Emissions per capita | ||
| 24. Emissions per electricity generated | |||
| 25. Industrial carbon intensity |
2010
On 28 January 2010 Yale UniversityYale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
and Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
released the 2010 Environmental Performance Index at the World Economic Forum
World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland....
ranking 163 countries. The top performer for 2010 is Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
due to its high scores on environmental public health, gets virtually all of its power from renewable sources (hydropower
Hydropower
Hydropower, hydraulic power, hydrokinetic power or water power is power that is derived from the force or energy of falling water, which may be harnessed for useful purposes. Since ancient times, hydropower has been used for irrigation and the operation of various mechanical devices, such as...
and geothermal
Geothermal
Geothermal is related to energy and may refer to:* The geothermal gradient and associated heat flows from within the Earth- Renewable technology :...
energy), and its control of greenhouse gas
Greenhouse gas
A greenhouse gas is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone...
emissions. The United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
fell to the 61st position, as compared to 39th in the 2008 EPI, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ranks 62nd, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
69th, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
121st, and India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
ranks 123rd.
Top 30 countries and score
- 93.5
- 89.1
- 86.4
- 86.0
- 81.1
-
Mauritius 80.6 - 78.2
- 78.1
- 78.1
- 76.8
-
Malta 76.3 - 74.7
- 74.5
- 74.2
- 73.4
- 73.3
- 73.2
- 73.1
- 73.0
- 72.5
- 72.5
- 71.6
- 71.4
- 71.4
- 70.6
- 69.9
-
Antigua and Barbuda 69.8 -
Singapore 69.6 -
Serbia 69.4 - 69.3
- 95.5
- 93.1
- 93.1
- 91.4
- 90.5
- 89.4
- 88.9
- 88.8
- 88.3
- 87.8
- 87.6
- 86.6
- 86.3
- 86.3
- 86.3
- 86.2
- 86.0
- 85.8
- 85.2
- 84.6
- 84.5
- 84.4
- 84.2
- 84.2
- 84.2
- 84.0
- 84.0
- 84.0
- 83.9
- 83.4
- 88.0
- 87.8
- 87.0
- 86.0
- 85.6
- 85.2
- 84.2
- 84.0
- 83.3
-
Republic of Ireland 83.3 - 82.9
- 82.5
- 82.1
- 81.9
- 81.6
- 81.4
- 80.4
- 80.2
- 80.2
- 80.1
- 79.8
- 79.4
- 79.2
- 79.1
- 79.1
- 78.9
- 78.7
- 78.5
- 78.4
- 77.7
- Environmental Sustainability IndexEnvironmental Sustainability IndexThe Environmental Sustainability Index ' was a composite index published from 1999 to 2005 that tracked 21 elements of environmental sustainability covering natural resource endowments, past and present pollution levels, environmental management efforts, contributions to protection of the global...
(ESI) - Environmental Vulnerability IndexEnvironmental Vulnerability IndexThe Environmental Vulnerability Index is a measurement devised by the South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission , the United Nations Environment Program and others to characterize the relative severity of various types of environmental issues suffered by 243 enumerated individual nations and...
(EVI) - Green Stickered Energy Consumption Indexes
- Yale University – EPI – A collaboration between YaleYale UniversityYale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
and ColumbiaColumbia UniversityColumbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
Universities - Yale University – YCELP – Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy
2008
On 23 January 2008 Yale UniversityYale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
and Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
released the 2008 Environmental Performance Index at the World Economic Forum
World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland....
ranking 149 countries. The environmental experts at both universities concluded that "analysis of the drivers underlying the 2008 rankings suggests that wealth is a major determinant of environmental success".
Top 30 countries and score
2006
On 26 January 2006 YaleYale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
(YCELP
Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy
The Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy is a joint initiative between the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies and the Yale Law School.-Mission:...
) and Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
(CIESIN) released the Pilot 2006 Environmental Performance Index at the World Economic Forum
World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland....
ranking 133 countries. It was done in collaboration with the World Economic Forum and the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
.
Top 30 countries and score