Is India world's least sustainable country? Environmental Performance Index 2022 ranks India last among 180 countries

• India ranked at the last position with an EPI score of 18.9.
• Denmark topped the list with an EPI score of 77.90.
• India's score dropped mainly in Ecosystem Vitality and Climate Policy

In spite of rolling out several initiatives like Sashakt Bharat, Swachh Bharat, Sanatan Bharat and many more, India was ranked at the bottom-most at the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) 2022. The report indicates that India is the least environmentally sustainable country among the 180 countries assessed.

India scored the lowest EPI — 18.9 — as per a report by Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy, Yale University, Center for International Earth Science Information Network, Columbia University and McCall MacBain Foundation.

The report provides a data-driven summary of the state of sustainability around the world using 40 performance indicators across 11 issue categories. The EPI ranks 180 countries on their progress toward improving environmental health, protecting ecosystem vitality, and mitigating climate change.

While Denmark was the most sustainable country with an EPI score of 77.90, followed by the United Kingdom (77.70 score) and Finland (76.50 score).

As per the EPI 2022 report, India witnessed a major drop in scores around Ecosystem Vitality and Climate Policy. Among these two categories, a major chunk of drop in EPI score can be attributed to species habitat index, loss of ecosystem services, unsustainable fishing, carbon emissions from land cover and greenhouse gas emissions per capita.

Peer countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Turkey and Sudan have also scored better than India, as per the EPI 2022 report.

“These indicators measure how close countries are to meeting internationally established sustainability targets for specific environmental issues. While the overall EPI scores provide a way to spotlight sustainability leaders and call out laggards, the accompanying disaggregated data offers a more refined tool for identifying policy weaknesses and anomalies, as well as proven programs that countries can adopt from their top-performing peers,” said EPI in the report.

The government of India has been working tirelessly towards the 2030 sustainability goals (SDGs) for a long time. However, the country needs a whopping investment of at least $2.64 trillion to meet the SDGs, as per a report by Standard Chartered SDG Investment Map.

Meanwhile, India continues to help developing countries across the globe to achieve their sustainability objectives. As per a UN report, India supports developing countries through the $150 million India-UN Development Partnership Fund for realizing the 2030 Agenda. These regional and global partnerships are part of India’s commitment to ‘leave no one behind’.

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