What are the most Environment-Friendly Countries?
It has been decades that the world has been under a constant threat of global warming, climate change and several other environmental issues. Thus, many nations have adopted environmental-friendly solutions like use of renewable energy, recycled products and green technologies. Innovations have brought the use of solar and wind power in several regions around the world.
Environmental Performance Index is released annually with collaboration of World Economic Forum and the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, and it considers the environmental policies of all the countries which are taken into consideration. The 2018 Environmental Performance Index ranked 180 countries based on 24 indicators, regarding health of environment and ecosystem vitality.
Air quality is a persistent threat to our environment, as air pollution is on a rise around the world, especially in the urban areas where population, traffic and industrialization is increasing day by day. Air-borne diseases have been one of the major reasons for deaths around the world. However, many nations have become alert and are improvising the intensity of greenhouse gas emissions over the past ten years.
The latest advancements in environmental science and analysis have been brought into use for the estimations, and Switzerland has emerged at the top position. The country is claimed to have the best air-quality and the climate is well-protected. This proves how the nation will exhibit good scores in terms of protecting public health and preserving natural resources. In the index, the nation has scored 87.42.
Nations that have ranked high on the list and have scored above 80 are – France, Denmark, Malta and Sweden. The United Kingdom comes close attaining a score of 79.89.
Among the BRICS nations, it is Russia which has scored the most, and that is, 63.79. On the other hand, India performed the least with a score of just 30.57. In fact, it is ranked at fourth last position in the index.
The young country, Burundi ranked the lowest in the Environmental Performance Index, having a score of just 27.43.
Low rankings on the Environment Index indicate that the country needs to make more efforts for environment sustainability, and in protection of biodiversity. Some of the nations have low scores because of broader problems like civil unrest and weak governance. Policymakers need to take serious actions to retain the well-being of people.
For a better understanding of how each nation has fared on the 2018 Environmental Performance Index, refer to the table below.
| 2018 EPI RANKINGS | ||
| Rank | Country | Score |
| 1 | Switzerland | 87.42 |
| 2 | France | 83.95 |
| 3 | Denmark | 81.6 |
| 4 | Malta | 80.9 |
| 5 | Sweden | 80.51 |
| 6 | United Kingdom | 79.89 |
| 7 | Luxembourg | 79.12 |
| 8 | Austria | 78.97 |
| 9 | Ireland | 78.77 |
| 10 | Finland | 78.64 |
| 11 | Iceland | 78.57 |
| 12 | Spain | 78.39 |
| 13 | Germany | 78.37 |
| 14 | Norway | 77.49 |
| 15 | Belgium | 77.38 |
| 16 | Italy | 76.96 |
| 17 | New Zealand | 75.96 |
| 18 | Netherlands | 75.46 |
| 19 | Israel | 75.01 |
| 20 | Japan | 74.69 |
| 21 | Australia | 74.12 |
| 22 | Greece | 73.6 |
| 23 | Taiwan | 72.84 |
| 24 | Cyprus | 72.6 |
| 25 | Canada | 72.18 |
| 26 | Portugal | 71.91 |
| 27 | United States of America | 71.19 |
| 28 | Slovakia | 70.6 |
| 29 | Lithuania | 69.33 |
| 30 | Bulgaria | 67.85 |
| 30 | Costa Rica | 67.85 |
| 32 | Qatar | 67.8 |
| 33 | Czech Republic | 67.68 |
| 34 | Slovenia | 67.57 |
| 35 | Trinidad and Tobago | 67.36 |
| 36 | St. Vincent & Grenadines | 66.48 |
| 37 | Latvia | 66.12 |
| 38 | Turkmenistan | 66.1 |
| 39 | Seychelles | 66.02 |
| 40 | Albania | 65.46 |
| 41 | Croatia | 65.45 |
| 42 | Colombia | 65.22 |
| 43 | Hungary | 65.01 |
| 44 | Belarus | 64.98 |
| 45 | Romania | 64.78 |
| 46 | Dominican Republic | 64.71 |
| 47 | Uruguay | 64.65 |
| 48 | Estonia | 64.31 |
| 49 | Singapore | 64.23 |
| 50 | Poland | 64.11 |
| 51 | Venezuela | 63.89 |
| 52 | Russia | 63.79 |
| 53 | Brunei Darussalam | 63.57 |
| 54 | Morocco | 63.47 |
| 55 | Cuba | 63.42 |
| 56 | Panama | 62.71 |
| 57 | Tonga | 62.49 |
| 58 | Tunisia | 62.35 |
| 59 | Azerbaijan | 62.33 |
| 60 | South Korea | 62.3 |
| 61 | Kuwait | 62.28 |
| 62 | Jordan | 62.2 |
| 63 | Armenia | 62.07 |
| 64 | Peru | 61.92 |
| 65 | Montenegro | 61.33 |
| 66 | Egypt | 61.21 |
| 67 | Lebanon | 61.08 |
| 68 | Macedonia | 61.06 |
| 69 | Brazil | 60.7 |
| 70 | Sri Lanka | 60.61 |
| 71 | Equatorial Guinea | 60.4 |
| 72 | Mexico | 59.69 |
| 73 | Dominica | 59.38 |
| 74 | Argentina | 59.3 |
| 75 | Malaysia | 59.22 |
| 76 | Antigua and Barbuda | 59.18 |
| 77 | United Arab Emirates | 58.9 |
| 78 | Jamaica | 58.58 |
| 79 | Namibia | 58.46 |
| 80 | Iran | 58.16 |
| 81 | Belize | 57.79 |
| 82 | Philippines | 57.65 |
| 83 | Mongolia | 57.51 |
| 84 | Serbia | 57.49 |
| 84 | Chile | 57.49 |
| 86 | Saudi Arabia | 57.47 |
| 87 | Ecuador | 57.42 |
| 88 | Algeria | 57.18 |
| 89 | Cabo Verde | 56.94 |
| 90 | Mauritius | 56.63 |
| 91 | Saint Lucia | 56.18 |
| 92 | Bolivia | 55.98 |
| 93 | Barbados | 55.76 |
| 94 | Georgia | 55.69 |
| 95 | Kiribati | 55.26 |
| 96 | Bahrain | 55.15 |
| 97 | Nicaragua | 55.04 |
| 98 | Bahamas | 54.99 |
| 99 | Kyrgyzstan | 54.86 |
| 100 | Nigeria | 54.76 |
| 101 | Kazakhstan | 54.56 |
| 102 | Samoa | 54.5 |
| 103 | Suriname | 54.2 |
| 104 | São Tomé and Príncipe | 54.01 |
| 105 | Paraguay | 53.93 |
| 106 | El Salvador | 53.91 |
| 107 | Fiji | 53.09 |
| 108 | Turkey | 52.96 |
| 109 | Ukraine | 52.87 |
| 110 | Guatemala | 52.33 |
| 111 | Maldives | 52.14 |
| 112 | Moldova | 51.97 |
| 113 | Botswana | 51.7 |
| 114 | Honduras | 51.51 |
| 115 | Sudan | 51.49 |
| 116 | Oman | 51.32 |
| 117 | Zambia | 50.97 |
| 118 | Grenada | 50.93 |
| 119 | Tanzania | 50.83 |
| 120 | China | 50.74 |
| 121 | Thailand | 49.88 |
| 122 | Micronesia | 49.8 |
| 123 | Libya | 49.79 |
| 124 | Ghana | 49.66 |
| 125 | Timor-Leste | 49.54 |
| 126 | Senegal | 49.52 |
| 127 | Malawi | 49.21 |
| 128 | Guyana | 47.93 |
| 129 | Tajikistan | 47.85 |
| 130 | Kenya | 47.25 |
| 131 | Bhutan | 47.22 |
| 132 | Vietnam | 46.96 |
| 133 | Indonesia | 46.92 |
| 134 | Guinea | 46.62 |
| 135 | Mozambique | 46.37 |
| 136 | Uzbekistan | 45.88 |
| 137 | Chad | 45.34 |
| 138 | Myanmar | 45.32 |
| 139 | Côte d’Ivoire | 45.25 |
| 140 | Gabon | 45.05 |
| 141 | Ethiopia | 44.78 |
| 142 | South Africa | 44.73 |
| 143 | Guinea-Bissau | 44.67 |
| 144 | Vanuatu | 44.55 |
| 145 | Uganda | 44.28 |
| 146 | Comoros | 44.24 |
| 147 | Mali | 43.71 |
| 148 | Rwanda | 43.68 |
| 149 | Zimbabwe | 43.41 |
| 150 | Cambodia | 43.23 |
| 151 | Solomon Islands | 43.22 |
| 152 | Iraq | 43.2 |
| 153 | Laos | 42.94 |
| 154 | Burkina Faso | 42.83 |
| 155 | Sierra Leone | 42.54 |
| 156 | Gambia | 42.42 |
| 157 | Republic of the Congo | 42.39 |
| 158 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 41.84 |
| 159 | Togo | 41.78 |
| 160 | Liberia | 41.62 |
| 161 | Cameroon | 40.81 |
| 162 | Swaziland | 40.32 |
| 163 | Djibouti | 40.04 |
| 164 | Papua New Guinea | 39.35 |
| 165 | Eritrea | 39.34 |
| 166 | Mauritania | 39.24 |
| 167 | Benin | 38.17 |
| 168 | Afghanistan | 37.74 |
| 169 | Pakistan | 37.5 |
| 170 | Angola | 37.44 |
| 171 | Central African Republic | 36.42 |
| 172 | Niger | 35.74 |
| 173 | Lesotho | 33.78 |
| 174 | Haiti | 33.74 |
| 175 | Madagascar | 33.73 |
| 176 | Nepal | 31.44 |
| 177 | India | 30.57 |
| 178 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 30.41 |
| 179 | Bangladesh | 29.56 |
| 180 | Burundi | 27.43 |
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