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News: India’s position in Yale University’s Global Environmental Performance Index (EPI) 2026 has been labeled by experts as a stark warning that demands immediate attention.
About Environmental Performance Index
- It is a data-driven global benchmark which provides a comprehensive assessment of sustainability worldwide.
- Developed by: It is developed by the Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy, Columbia University’s Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) and Yale Center for Geospatial Solutions, Yale University with support from the McCall MacBain Foundation.
- First edition: It is a biennial index, first started in 2002 and was earlier known as the Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI) which began in 2002.
- Importance
- It provides policymakers with an objective scorecard to track sustainability progress, identify ecological vulnerabilities, and refine environmental policy.
- It serves as a vital analytical tool for measuring how close nations are to achieving global sustainability targets.
- Environmental Performance Index (EPI) 2026:
- The 2026 EPI ranks 177 countries on 47 indicators across 12 issue categories spanning three policy objectives:
- Environmental Health
- Ecosystem Vitality
- Climate Change
- The 2026 EPI ranks 177 countries on 47 indicators across 12 issue categories spanning three policy objectives:
- Global highlights of 2026 Index:
- Five European countries ranked in the top five this year in the EPI (2026).
- Estonia claimed the top spot with an overall score of 74.79.
- Following behind, Luxembourg, United Kingdom, and Finland were positioned at second, third and fourth position respectively.
- Netherlands secured the fifth position.
- Germany, France, and Norway took the sixth, seventh and eight positions.
- Sweden ranked ninth and Austria ranked tenth.
- India’s status:
- India ranked second from the bottom, taking the 176th position out of 177 evaluated countries.
- India’s overall EPI score came out to 22.46, compared to a regional average of 31.81.
- Tree cover loss in key biodiversity areas recorded a score of -3.92.
