2014 ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE INDEX

Summary for PolicymakersYale Center for Environmental Law & Policy, Yale UniversityCenter for International Earth Science Information Network, Columbia University

In collaboration withWorld Economic Forum, Geneva, Switzerland

With support fromThe Samuel Family Foundation, Toronto, Canada

www.epi.yale.edu

REGIONAL RANKINGS & TRENDS

Global ScorecardThe world lags on some environmental issues, while demonstrating progress in others. A ‘global scorecard’ provides first-time insight as to the world’s collective impacts on the major environmental issues of our time. Complete methods, data, and results are available online at www.epi.yale.edu.

KEY FINDINGSOverall, results are high in Access to Drinking Water, Child Mortality, and Access to Sanitation. Poorer results are found in Air Quality, Fisheries, and Wastewater Treatment. While in most areas, trends suggest improvement, some primary issues like air quality and fisheries show distressing decline over the last decade.

Figure 1. Global indicators for most of the policy issues assessed by the EPI demonstrate improvement over time. Footnote: Wastewater Treatment only has one data point and no available time series. Similarly, relevant global indicators were not possible for the Climate and Energy or Forest indicators, which already represent 10-year trends.

2000 201220112010200920082007200620052004200320022001

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Access to Drinking Water

Access to Sanitation

Agricultural Subsidies

Terrestrial Protected Areas

Pesticide Regulation

Critical Habitat Protection

Fish Stocks

Wastewater Treatment

Air Quality (PM2.5 Exceedance)

Marine Protected Areas

Air Quality (Average PM2.5 Exceedance)

Coastal Shelf Fishing Pressure

Household Air Quality

A much wider array of tools for filling key measurement gaps is available now, compared to the 1980s and 1990s when environmental indicators first entered the international spotlight. New technologies such as remote sensing and institutions in the form of third-party organizations have emerged, and the EPI makes use of these cutting-edge innovations. Forestry measures, for example, can now make use of satellite data to generate metrics that are far more comparable and comprehensive than what emerged from previous modeling efforts and national reports. New data using over 650,000 satellite images reveal the true global extent of forest loss and gain over the last decade.

OTHER CONCLUSIONS

Despite all the media attention it gets, air quality measurement capabilities are weak and poorly coordinated with management. International policy targets are largely absent, and the world has observed policy stagnation and alarming air pollution crises in a growing number of cities. With the expansion of industry and fossil fuels-based transportation sectors in the developing world, the number of people breathing unsafe air has risen by 606 million since 2000. It now totals 1.78 billion people.

1.78 billion people breathe unsafe air today

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The EPI contributes to the post-2015 development agenda.

The 2014 EPI results are released at an opportune time to inform the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Guided by discussions with water experts contributing to the development of the SDGs, the 2014 EPI introduces a new indicator on wastewater treatment. This indicator shows that overall, countries are performing poorly with respect to wastewater treatment, which is a major driver of ecosystem water quality.

Cities offer opportunities and challenges when it comes to environmental sustainability.

Some elements of sustainability, such as wastewater treatment, benefit from denser urban populations. Others, including air pollution, are harder to address under crowded conditions. Singapore, for example, is a highly dense, urbanized nation that ranks in the Top 10 of the 2014 EPI. The city-state’s high performance on Wastewater Treatment, Access to Drinking Water, and Improved Sanitation speaks to the potential of urban infrastructure to secure some elements of environmental health. In fact, Singapore’s wastewater treatment system actually enables it to recycle a high proportion of its water resources.

For some priority indicators, measurement capabilities remain distressingly weak.

The sustainability of agricultural practices and freshwater resource management, for example, have virtually no reliable metrics by which to identify priority needs, set policy targets, or evaluate national performance. Other key areas lacking adequate measurement include exposure to toxic chemicals, solid waste management, recycling, and wetlands protection. Issue areas that are fundamentally ecological and systems-oriented tend to be measured least effectively. Failing to manage such systems poses increasing risks, and the need to step up to the measurement challenge is dire.

The world needs better measurement and indicator systems.

To meet the growing demand for environmental performance indicators, the world will need to build on existing strengths and invest in innovative approaches. The EPI team remains committed to working with interested partners, as it already has with air quality and water resources, to develop new measurement and indicator systems. Such innovation will require tighter partnership between governments, corporations, scientists, and civil society. The EPI documents the tangible benefits that arise where such efforts are pursued and the shameful damage that manifests where they are not.

When measurement is poor or not aligned with proper management, natural and human systems suffer. The EPI documents that weak measurement systems give rise to poor outcomes. For instance, marine fisheries are badly monitored, many fleets deliberately misreport catch data or fail to report, and international policy targets are ad hoc and incomplete. It is no surprise that fish stocks around the world are in stark decline.

34% of global fish stocks are collapsed

27% are overexploited

14.6% of terrestrial area protected in 2012

9.7% of marine area protected areas in 2012

Well-organized data systems and clearly established targets have led to widespread increase in protected areas, like Mount Cameroon National Park in Cameroon. Cameroon established the park in 2009 because data showed the area is home to some of the most threatened mammal species in the world. Likewise, Peru is one of the few countries to carefully analyze its territory to identify areas where critically threatened or endangered species exist, and to specifically protect these areas.

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2 billion people now have access to improved drinking water and sanitation

Since 1990 more than 2 billion people have gained access to improved drinking water and proper sanitation, exceeding Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets and improving global well-being. In Afghanistan alone, the percentage of households with access to clean drinking water went from 5 percent in 1991 to 61 percent in 2011. Ethiopia has also been able to connect more of its villages to safe drinking water through investment from the national government and international aid. These great successes resulted from a well-organized measurement system that allowed policymakers to track their performance, identify priority needs, and create mechanisms to maintain accountability.

2.3 million sq. km. of forest lost

0.8 million sq. km. of forest gained

Rank Country Score 10-yr.1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.

10.11.12.13.14.15.16.17.18.19.20.21.22.23.24.25.26.27.28.29.30.31.32.33.34.35.36.37.38.39.40.41.42.43.44.45.46.47.48.49.50.51.52.53.54.55.56.57.58.59.

SwitzerlandLuxembourgAustraliaSingaporeCzech RepublicGermanySpainAustriaSwedenNorwayNetherlandsUnited KingdomDenmarkIcelandSloveniaNew ZealandPortugalFinlandIrelandEstoniaSlovakiaItalyGreeceCanadaUnited Arab EmiratesJapanFranceHungaryChilePolandSerbiaBelarusUnited States of AmericaMaltaSaudi ArabiaBelgiumBrunei DarussalamCyprusIsraelLatviaBulgariaKuwaitSouth KoreaQatarCroatiaTaiwanTongaArmeniaLithuaniaEgyptMalaysiaTunisiaEcuadorCosta RicaJamaicaMauritiusVenezuelaPanamaKiribati

87.6783.2982.4081.7881.4780.4779.7978.3278.0978.0477.7577.3576.9276.5076.4376.4175.8075.7274.6774.6674.4574.3673.2873.1472.9172.3571.0570.2869.9369.5369.1367.6967.5267.4266.6666.6166.4966.2365.7864.0564.0163.9463.7963.0362.2362.1861.6861.6761.2661.1159.3158.9958.5458.5358.2658.0957.8056.8455.82

Rank Country Score 10-yr.60.61.62.63.64.65.66.67.68.69.70.71.72.73.74.75.76.77.78.79.80.81.82.83.84.85.86.87.88.89.90.91.92.93.94.95.96.97.98.99.

100.101.102.103.104.105.106.107.108.109.110.111.112.113.114.115.116.117.118.

JordanSeychellesMontenegroAzerbaijanCubaMexicoTurkeyAlbaniaSyriaSri LankaUruguaySurinameSouth AfricaRussiaMoldovaDominican RepublicFijiBrazilThailandTrinidad and TobagoPalauMoroccoBahrainIranKazakhstanColombiaRomaniaBoliviaBelizeMacedoniaNicaraguaLebanonAlgeriaArgentinaZimbabweUkraineAntigua and BarbudaHondurasGuatemalaOmanBotswanaGeorgiaDominicaBhutanGabonBahamasVanuatuBosnia and HerzegovinaBarbadosTurkmenistanPeruMongoliaIndonesiaCape VerdePhilippinesEl SalvadorNamibiaUzbekistanChina

55.7855.5655.5255.4755.0755.0354.9154.7354.5053.8853.6153.5753.5153.4553.3653.2453.0852.9752.8352.2851.9651.8951.8351.0851.0750.7750.5250.4850.4650.4150.3250.1550.0849.5549.5449.0148.8948.8748.0647.7547.6047.2347.0846.8646.6046.5845.8845.7945.5045.0745.0544.6744.3644.0744.0243.7943.7143.2343.00

Rank Country Score 10-yr.119.120. 121.122.123.124.125.126.127.128.129.130.131.132.133.134.135.136.137.138.139.140.141.142.143.144.145.146.147.148.149.150.151.152.153.154.155.156.157.158.159.160.161.162.163.164.165.166.167.168.169.170.171.172.173.174.175.176.177.178.

Central African RepublicLibyaZambiaPapua New GuineaEquatorial GuineaSenegalKyrgyzstanBurkina FasoLaosMalawiCote d'IvoireCongoEthiopiaTimor-LesteParaguayNigeriaUgandaViet NamGuyanaSwazilandNepalKenyaCameroonNigerTanzaniaGuinea-BissauCambodiaRwandaGrenadaPakistanIraqBeninGhanaSolomon IslandsComorosTajikistanIndiaChadYemenMozambiqueGambiaAngolaDjiboutiGuineaTogoMyanmarMauritaniaMadagascarBurundiEritreaBangladeshDem. Rep. CongoSudanLiberiaSierra LeoneAfghanistanLesothoHaitiMaliSomalia

42.9442.7241.7241.0941.0640.8340.6340.5240.3740.0639.7239.4439.4339.4139.2539.2039.1838.1738.0737.3537.0036.9936.6836.2836.1935.9835.4435.4135.2434.5833.3932.4232.0731.6331.3931.3431.2331.0230.1629.9729.3028.6928.5228.0327.9127.4427.1926.7025.7825.7625.6125.0124.6423.9521.7421.5720.8119.0118.4315.47

Top 10 Trend Performers Country Improvement in PerformanceLowest 10 Trend Performers Country Decline in Performance

2014 EPI RANKINGS