Nigeria ranks 133rd out of the 180 countries surveyed for the 2016 environmental performance index. The Environmental Performance Index (EPI) provides a global view of environmental performance and country by country metrics to inform decision-making. The EPI was launched at the World Economic Forum, is in its 15th year and more relevant than ever to achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and carrying out the recent international climate change agreement.
The EPI is a project lead by the Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy (YCELP) and Yale Data-Driven Environmental Solutions Group at Yale University (Data-Driven Yale), the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) at Columbia University, in collaboration with the Samuel Family Foundation, McCall MacBain Foundation, and the World Economic Forum.
The image below (from the YCELP) shows the 2016 ranking of all the countries ranked.
What does the Environmental Index measure?
Environmental Health and Ecosystem Vitality are the 2016 EPI’s two main objectives that provide an umbrella for the Index’s issue areas and indicators.
Environmental Health measures the protection of human health from environmental harm. Ecosystem Vitality measures ecosystem protection and resource management. These two objectives are divided into nine issue categories that encompass high-priority environmental policy issues including;
– Agriculture
– Air Quality
– Biodiversity and Habitat
– Climate and Energy
– Forests
– Fisheries
– Health Impacts
– Water Resources
– Water and Sanitation.
The issue categories are extensive but not comprehensive. Twenty indicators calculated from country-level data form the issue categories’ foundation.
Here is how Nigeria is ranked based on the nine issue categories listed above (as seen on the EPI for Nigeria )
Environmental Performance Index Key findings
Some important findings were discovered when making this project. These are as follows;
1. The world is making progress addressing some environmental issues while others have worsened considerably.
2. Economic development leads to improvement in some environmental areas, yet development is also associated with increased prevalence of environmental hazards.
3. When measurement is poor or not aligned with proper management, environmental and human health suffer.
4. Developing policy relevant indicators based in science is essential to appropriate measurement and management.
5. The 2015 Paris Climate Agreement specifies climate change action expected from all countries, yet solid metrics to evaluate performance remain elusive.
Get full details about the key findings
As a nation, we still have a long way ahead on the things to do right in order to rank better on the Environmental Performance Index. This requires conscious and dedicated solution-based efforts by every Nigerian.
Information for this update was sourced from epi.yale.edu
