Environmental Performance Index

Table of Contents

India secured 168th rank in the 12th edition of the Environment Performance Index (EPI) 2020.
India’s rank was 177th in 2018.

Biennial index prepared by Yale University and Columbia University in collaboration with the World Economic Forum.
It offers a scorecard that highlights leaders and laggards in environmental performance and provides practical guidance for countries that aspire to move toward a sustainable future.
This index was first published in 2002 designed to supplement the environmental targets set forth in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.

EPI 2020

India scored 27.6 out of 100
Performance was worse than all South Asian countries, except Afghanistan.
India scored below the regional (South-Asia) average score on all five key parameters on environmental health, including air quality, sanitation and drinking water, heavy metals and waste management.
Scored below the regional average on parameters related to biodiversity and ecosystem services too.
A ten-year comparison progress report in the index showed that India slipped on climate-related parameters.
The report indicated that black carbon, carbon dioxide emissions and greenhouse emissions per capita increased in ten years.

India needs to re-double national sustainability efforts on all fronts.
It needs to focus on a wide spectrum of sustainability issues, with a high-priority to critical issues such as air and water quality, biodiversity and climate change.