Do you know just how green your overseas home really is? If you care about eco-credentials, then the 2022 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) provides a data-driven summary of the state of sustainability around the world.
The research is undertaken each year by the universities of Yale and Columbia in the USA, using 40 performance indicators across 11 issue categories. The indicators are used to rank 180 countries on their progress toward improved environmental health, protection of ecosystem vitality, and mitigation towards climate change.
Top ranking overall is Denmark, with the UK in second place, with other western countries featuring in the top ten, as might be expected. Drilling down into performance across the different measures shows a different picture. In terms of the greatest improvement over the past ten years, Malta holds top spot, with Afghanistan in second place. To view and filter the rankings click here.
Of concern are the findings around global progress to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) with the researchers saying insufficient progress is being made towards the net-zero GHGs by mid-century target established in the 2021 Glasgow Climate Pact.
Only a handful of countries are currently projected to reach GHG neutrality by 2050, according to the analysis, with more than 50% of emissions expected to come from just four countries by that time: China, India, the United States, and Russia.
A full report of this year’s EPI is available here: