Kyrgyzstan ranks 80 in performance
Kyrgyzstan ranks 80, Netherlands 27 in the world in environmental performance, according to the Pilot 2006 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) produced by a team of environmental experts at the environment school at Yale University and the Earth Institute at Columbia University. The United States placed 28th in the rankings.
The 2006 EPI, released in Davos at the World Economic Forum that opened today, ranks Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic, and the United Kingdom two to five respectively.
The 16 indicators used to rank nations are: child mortality, indoor air pollution, drinking water, adequate sanitation, urban particulates, regional ozone, nitrogen loading, water consumption, wilderness protection, ecoregion protection, timber harvest rate, agricultural subsidies, overfishing, energy efficiency, renewable energy, and CO2 per Gross Domestic Product.
New Zealand’s Lake Brunner (Photo courtesy NZ Travel Index)
The Index identifies targets for environmental performance and measures how close each country comes to these goals. It ranks 133 countries on 16 indicators tracked in six policy categories — Environmental Health, Air Quality, Water Resources, Biodiversity and Habitat, Productive Natural Resources, and Sustainable Energy.
The top-ranked countries all commit significant resources and effort to environmental protection, resulting in strong performance across most of the policy categories.
The Index provides «peer group» rankings for each country showing how its performance stacks up against others facing similar environmental challenges. These benchmarks allow easy tracking of countries on an issue-by-issue and aggregate basis. The data also supports effort to identify «best practices» in the environmental realm.
The United States placed 28th in the rankings — below other developed nations like the United Kingdom and Canada, which ranked eighth.
The authors say the U.S. score reflects good performance on environmental health issues, but indicates that the United States is under-performing on renewable energy, greenhouse gas emissions, and water resources.
«The lagging performance of the United States on environmental issues – particularly on energy and climate change – signals trouble not only for the American people, but for the whole world,» said Gus Speth, dean of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. «Perhaps this ranking will serve as a wake up call to the American public and particularly to leaders in Washington.»
The EPI centers on two broad objectives — reducing environmental stresses on human health and protecting ecosystem vitality.
The 16 indicators used to rank nations are: child mortality, indoor air pollution, drinking water, adequate sanitation, urban particulates, regional ozone, nitrogen loading, water consumption, wilderness protection, ecoregion protection, timber harvest rate, agricultural subsidies, overfishing, energy efficiency, renewable energy, and CO2 per Gross Domestic Product.
