BaselArea

Tuesday, 12.08.2008

Switzerland tops the 2008 Environmental Performance Index

Switzerland tops the global list of countries ranked by environmental performance, according to the 2008 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) produced by a team of environmental experts at Yale University and Columbia University.

The 2008 EPI ranks 149 countries on 25 indicators tracked across six established policy categories: Environmental Health, Air Pollution, Water Resources, Biodiversity and Habitat, Productive Natural Resources, and Climate Change. The EPI identifies broadly-accepted targets for environmental performance and measures how close each country comes to these goals.

Analysis of the drivers underlying the 2008 rankings suggests that wealth is a major determinant of environmental success. At every level of development, however, some countries achieve results that far exceed their peers, demonstrating that policy choices also affect performance. For example, Costa Rica (5th), known for its substantial environmental efforts, significantly outperforms its neighbour Nicaragua (77th).

Top-ranked countries have all invested in water and air pollution control and other elements of environmental infrastructure and have adopted policy measures to mitigate the pollution harms caused by economic activities. Low-ranked countries typically have not made investments in environmental public health and have weak policy regimes.

 

To learn more about the index, please go to the following link:
http://epi.yale.edu/Home