Context:
Environmental Performance Index (EPI) 2024 released by the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy, in collaboration with the Columbia Center for International Earth Science Information Network.
Key Highlights of Environmental Performance Index (EPI) 2024:
- Global Scenario:
- Estonia tops the list.
- Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia – lowest rankings among the eight regions evaluated.
- Only five countries—Estonia, Finland, Greece, Timor-Leste, and the United Kingdom—are reducing their GHG emissions at a pace necessary to achieve net zero by 2050.
- India’s Ranking: 176th out of 180 countries
- Ranking below Afghanistan, Iraq, Bangladesh, etc.
- India performs poorly in areas such as air quality, emissions, and biodiversity conservation, primarily due to its heavy reliance on coal.
- Despite its overall low ranking, India ranks 133rd in climate change due to renewable energy investments and a commitment to net-zero emissions by 2070.
About Environmental Performance Index (EPI)
- A biennial index.
- Initially launched in 2002 by – World Economic Forum as the Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI).
- It assesses nations’ progress toward international environmental policy goals, including the:
- The 2024 EPI uses 58 performance indicators, grouped into 11 issue categories, focusing on 3 policy objectives:
- Environmental Health
- Ecosystem Vitality
- Climate Change
- Measuring scale range – from 0 to 100 (with 0 being the worst and 100 the best performance)
Previous Year Question
With reference to ‘Global Climate Change Alliance’, which of the following statements is/are correct?
1. It is an initiative of the European Union.
2. It provides technical and financial support to targeted developing countries to integrate climate change into their development policies and budgets.
3. It is coordinated by World Resources Institute (WRI) and World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
[UPSC Civil Services Exam – 2017 Prelims]
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 3 only
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer: (a)
Explanation:
Statement 3 is not correct: It is coordinated by EU. World Resources Institute (WRI) and World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) are not involved.
