Yale University releases Environmental Performance Indices for 2010

This website by the Yale University provides information on the global and countrywise ratings for environmental performance in the form of Environmental Performance Indices (EPI) for different countries. The site also provides details of EPI scores for India in comparison with the average scores globally.

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 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_Performance_Index)
The EPI has been developed by Yale University (Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy) and Columbia University (Center for International Earth Science Information Network) in collaboration with the World Economic Forum and the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. The EPI uses outcome-oriented indicators, which can serve as benchmark indices and can be used by policy makers, environmental scientists, advocates and the general public (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_Performance_Index)

The EPI indicators include:
I] Ecosystem vitality

• Climate change
• Agriculture
• Fisheries
• Forestry
• Biodiversity and habitat
• Water

II] Environmental health

• Environmental burden of disease
• Air pollution
• Water
• Air pollution

Three EPI reports have been released till January 2010. The Pilot Environmental Performance Index was released in 2006 and was followed by the 2008 and 2010 Environmental Performance Indices. The 2010 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) ranks 163 countries on 25 performance indicators across ten policy categories covering both environmental public health and ecosystem vitality. These indicators are useful for evaluating how close countries are to established environmental policy goals at the national level (http://epi.yale.edu/Home).

In the 2010 scorecard, the top five countries are Iceland, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Sweden, and Norway. The bottom five countries are Togo, Angola, Mauritania, the Central African Republic, and Sierra Leone (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_Performance_Index). Iceland tops the list in 2010 because of its high scores on environmental public health since it generates all of its power from renewable sources (hydropower and geothermal energy), and its control of greenhouse gas emissions. The United States occupies the 61st position as compared to 39th in the 2008 EPI, Brazil ranks 62nd, Russia 69th, China 121st, and India ranks 123rd (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_Performance_Index).

The details of the rankings for EPI for India can be accessed from this page.