• India has objected to a report, called the Environmental Performance Index (EPI), 2022, that places India last in a list of 180 countries on managing climate change, environmental health, and ecosystem vitality.
• India being a developing country and the second largest population will have the increasing trend of GHG (greenhouse gas emissions) and so the correct method, the Environment Ministry said, would be to calculate GHG emissions per capita and have a model with the coefficients taking into account the effect of policies to reduce emissions like increase in use of renewable energy, electric vehicles, creation of carbon sink, etc., to project the values for future years.
• The use of “biased metrics and biased weights” caused India’s low rank as it didn’t account for the fact that India had one of the lowest emission trajectories. The index also didn’t account for the fact that developed nations past emissions are responsible for the climate crisis.
• Per capita GHG emissions contributed only a “miniscule” 2.6% weight overall in the index.
• India was a party to Paris Agreement and has given a goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2070 and hence comparing it to countries with Projected 2050 emissions level in 2050 equal to or below zero receiving the maximum score is against the principle of Equity as enshrined in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change agreements.
• Forests and wetlands of the country are crucial carbon sinks but have not been factored in while computing the projected GHG emissions trajectory up to 2050 given by EPI 2022. Historical data on the lowest emission trajectory has been ignored in the computation.
• The index computes the extent of ecosystems but not their condition or productivity. It did not include indicators like agro biodiversity, soil health, food loss and waste even though they are important for developing countries with large agrarian populations.

Key Findings

• India has been ranked 180 with a score of 18.9. India’s rank was 168 (score 27.6) in 2020. India has been ranked lower than Pakistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Myanmar, the poorest performers. In fact, India has been ranked the lowest. Denmark tops the list with a score of 77.9.
• India ranks close to the bottom on a number of indicators including ecosystem vitality (178th), biodiversity (179th), biodiversity habitat index (170th), species protection index (175th).
• Apart from this, there is a dismal performance with respect to wetland loss, air quality (179th), PM 2.5 (174th), heavy metals such as lead in water (174th), waste management (151st) etc.
• It suggests that China, India, the U.S., and Russia will account for over 50 percent of residual global greenhouse gas emissions in 2050. Greenhouse gasses (GHG) include carbon dioxide, methane, fluorinated gasses, and nitrous oxide.

• The EPI 2022 which was released on May 31 has Denmark holding the top rank emerging as the most sustainable country in the 2022 rankings, because of its strong performance across many sectors particularly climate and sustainable agriculture.
• Other high-scoring nations include the United Kingdom and Finland, both of which earn top rankings from their strong climate change performance driven by policies that have substantially cut greenhouse gas emissions in recent years, the EPI said.
• The indicators “measure how close countries are in meeting internationally established sustainability targets for specific environmental issues”.
• The 40 indicators are under the broad categories of climate change performance, environmental health, and ecosystem vitality.
• The 2022 EPI has included new parameters to its earlier assessments, with projections of progress towards net-zero emissions in 2050, as well as new air quality indicators, and sustainable pesticide use.
• United States is lagging behind its peers of wealthy nations. It ranked 43 out of 180 countries in the index.
• “This ranking reflects the rollback of environmental protections during the Trump Administration, which repealed or weakened nearly 100 environmental regulations, withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement, and weakened fuel efficiency standards.

• The Environmental Performance Index report noted that most countries that scored low have prioritized economic growth over sustainability.
• Air pollution: India is home to 21 of the 30 most polluted cities in the world and has an air quality rated one of the poorest in the world. Over 16 lakh people in India die from air pollution every year, according to the report. It also identifies household fuel combustion as the largest contributor to the country’s particulate matter emissions.
• Seven indicators  are used to determine the air quality in the listed countries. These include PM 2.5 exposure, household solid fuels, ozone exposure, nitrogen oxides exposure, sulphur dioxide exposure, carbon monoxide exposure, and volatile organic compound exposure.
• Plastic waste generation: India and Indonesia have been identified as the top two generators of marine plastic waste in the world, while China has managed to decrease its ocean plastic pollution. Ocean plastic pollution is measured as an absolute quantity of the amount of plastic released by a country into the ocean annually. Indonesia, India, the U.S, Brazil and Thailand are the top five producers of ocean plastic pollution and are responsible for 43% of the global total.
• Protection of biomes: In an analysis of countries protecting the world’s biomes, India emerged at the bottom in five out of 14 sub-categories – the most for a single nation.

• As per the Environment Ministry, some of the indicators used for assessing performance are extrapolated and based on unscientific methods.
• Shifting of weightage on many indicators has resulted in India’s low ranking. For example, for black carbon growth, India’s score actually improved from 32 in 2020 to 100 (the top score) in 2022. However, the weightage of this indicator has been reduced to 0.0038 in 2022 from 0.018 in 2020. Climate Change has been given very high weightage (38% or 0.38) and tends to neglect the development needs of poorer countries.
• Similarly, the low weightage given to per-capita GHG emissions automatically reduces the ranks of countries like India and China.
• Projection for GHG emissions has been computed based on the average rate of change in emission of the last 10 years. It is not based on modeling that takes into account a longer period, extent of renewable energy capacity and use, additional carbon sinks etc.
• Crucial carbon sinks that mitigate GHG, such as forests and wetlands, have not been taken into account.
• Further, India’s low emissions trajectory, unlike high historical trajectories of developed countries, has been ignored. The US and the EU should have the highest burden considering their historic emissions.
• The EPI assumes every country is in the same position economically, developmentally and environmentally, therefore all had to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
• Other Objections: The index emphasizes the extent of protected areas rather than the quality of protection that they afford. The computation of biodiversity indices does not factor in management effectiveness evaluation of protected areas.
• Indicators such as agro biodiversity, soil health, food loss and waste are not included even though they are important for developing countries with large agrarian populations.
• Dr Navroz Dubash, one of the authors of the latest report of the International Report on Climate Change (IPCC), has criticized the Index, “The EPI 2022 is neither ethically correct nor reflects the political reality.”

• The Index was published by researchers of Yale and Columbia University which provides a data-driven summary of the state of sustainability around the world.
• The EPI was preceded by the Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI), published between 1999 and 2005.
• Both indices were developed by Yale University (Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy) and Columbia University (Center for International Earth Science Information Network) in collaboration with the World Economic Forum and the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission.
• The ESI was developed to evaluate environmental sustainability relative to the paths of other countries.
• Due to a shift in focus by the teams developing the ESI, the EPI uses outcome-oriented indicators, then working as a benchmark index that can be more easily used by policy makers, environmental scientists, advocates and the general public.
• Other leading indices like the Global Green Economy Index (GGEI) provide an integrated measure of the environmental, social and economic dynamics of national economies.
• The GGEI utilizes EPI data for the environmental dimension of the index while also providing a performance assessment of efficiency sectors (e.g. transport, buildings, energy), investment, green innovation and national leadership around climate change.
• The Environmental Performance Index for the year 2022 ranks 180 countries. The top five countries are Denmark, United Kingdom, Finland, Malta and Sweden.
• The 2022 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) 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 climate change performance, environmental health, and ecosystem vitality. These indicators provide a gauge at a national scale of how close countries are to established environmental policy targets.
• The EPI 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.
• The Environmental Vulnerability Index (EVI) is a measurement devised by the South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC), the United Nations Environment Program and others to characterize the relative severity of various types of environmental issues suffered by 243 enumerated individual nations and other geographies (such as Antarctica). The results of the EVI are used to focus on planned solutions to negative pressures on the environment, whilst promoting sustainability.

How we can improve the performance of India in this Index?

• First, the parameters of the report should be modified in order to enhance its credibility. The accurate method would be to calculate GHG emissions per capita. Further, a model should be created with coefficients taking into account the effect of policies to reduce emissions. This will help in better projection of the values for future years.
• Such policies include increased use of renewable energy and electric vehicles or the creation of a carbon sink.
• Second, India must make sure that its current environment policies and commitments are duly honored. For instance, India has announced a ban on single-use plastic, scheduled to be in effect from July 1. This should be properly implemented.
• Third, India must strengthen environmental litigation framework by establishing more benches of National Green Tribunals across the country. This will promote environmental consciousness and encourage people to file complaints against the violators.
• Fourth, masses should be sensitized towards climate change by taking support of NGOs like GreenPeace India. This would also help in creation of Climate Change based Political Parties.
• Fifth, Developed countries must accept historical responsibility and provide financial resources to the developing countries based on equity and justice principle. This is imperative for preserving the environment across the globe rather than myopically seeing one’s own domestic jurisdiction.