NEW DELHI: India on Wednesday rejected the Environmental Performance Index 2022 that ranked the country at the bottom of a list of 180 countries, saying some of the indicators used for assessing the performance are extrapolated and “based on surmises and unscientific methods”.
The EPI, published recently by the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy and the Center for International Earth Science Information Network, Columbia University, used 40 performance indicators across 11 categories to judge countries on climate change performance, environmental public health, biodiversity and ecosystem vitality, among others.
The Ministry of Environment said it does not accept the analysis, saying both forests and wetlands of the country are crucial carbon sinks which have not been factored in by EPI 2022 while computing the projected greenhouse gas emissions trajectory up to 2050.
“Historical data on the lowest emission trajectory has been ignored in the above computation. The weight of indicators in which the country was performing well has been reduced and reasons for change in assignment of weights have not been explained in the report,” said the ministry.
It further said that the principle of equity is given very low weightage in the form of indicators like GHG emission per capita and GHG Emission intensity trend. he 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.
“India has already achieved the target of 40 per cent of installed electricity capacity from non- fossil fuel based sources. The indicators on water quality, water use efficiency, waste generation per capita which are closely linked to Sustainable Consumption and Production are not included in the Index. The Index emphasizes the extent of Protected Areas rather than the quality of protection that they afford,” the ministry said.
Global rankings
The report by Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy (Yale University), Center for International Earth Science Information Network (Columbia University) and McCall MacBain Foundation provides a data-driven summary of the state of sustainability around the world using 40 performance indicators across 11 issue categories
VThe EPI ranks 180 countries on their progress toward improving environmental health, protecting ecosystem vitality, and mitigating climate change
18.9 India scored the lowest EPI of 18.9, was ranked at the bottom
