Environmental Performance Index: India secured 168th rank

India secured 168th rank in the 12th edition of the Environment Performance Index (EPI) 2020.

India’s rank was 177th in 2018.

Environmental Performance Index

• EPI is a biennial index prepared by Yale University and Columbia University in collaboration with the World Economic Forum.
• It offers a scorecard that highlights leaders and laggards in environmental performance and provides practical guidance for countries that aspire to move toward a sustainable future.
• This index was first published in 2002 designed to supplement the environmental targets set forth in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.

Key Points
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 performance at the national and global levels.
• Denmark topped the index with a score of 82.5.

India’ Performance:

• India scored 27.6 out of 100 in the 2020 EPI index and its performance was worse than all South Asian countries, except Afghanistan.
• India scored below the regional (South-Asia) average score on all five key parameters on environmental health, including air quality, sanitation and drinking water, heavy metals and waste management.
• These findings resonated with the concerns raised by the ‘State of India’s Environment 2020 in Figures’, published by the Centre for Science and Environment.
• It has also scored below the regional average on parameters related to biodiversity and ecosystem services too.
• India was at second position after Pakistan on ‘climate change’ among the South-Asia countries.
• Pakistan’s score (50.6) was the highest under the climate change category.
• 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 increased in ten years.

Published date : 10 Jun 2020 03:18PM