Environmental Performance Index 2022- India
India has scored the lowest among 180 countries in the world, on Environmental Performance in 2022 (Environmental Performance Index, Yale University). It ranked 131 out of 189 countries in Human Development Index (Human Development Report, UNDP). 11 of the countries ranked in the top 20 according to EPI are also in the top 20 in Human Development. And the list almost overlaps if we look at top 30 countries in both reports. The countries that are doing well on the Environmental Indices are also doing well on the Human Development indices. I have not analysed the data enough to arrive at a causal relationship but it only seems right that a healthy environment leads to healthy, happy humans.
India has scored lower than the following:
1. Countries with similar and less GDP per capita, by a wide margin (A difference of 31 points between Belize, a similar GDP country, and India. The scoring is on a 100-point scale).
2. Countries with similar government controls/laws
3. Other countries in South Asia including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. (Afghanistan and Bhutan scored more than twice of India).
4. Countries in conflict zones
5. Other countries in G20
6. Other countries in BRICS. Brazil, Russia and South Africa scored twice and more than twice of India while China scored approx. 10 points higher.
While environmental health impacts human health, the factors that impact our health immediately and directly, are the ones that India has scored lowest on:
1. Biodiversity Loss: Zoonotic diseases like COVID 19 are a direct result of Biodiversity Loss. Mental illnesses and diseases caused by stress have been proved to reduce in nature. We have ranked 179/ 180 in this parameter. The lowest scores are in the subcategory of Biome protection or ecosystems that are protected by Law, by India. The dilution of the Environmental Protection Act allowing destruction of our biodiverse zones without due consultation or consideration, is a clear contributor to this.
2. Air Quality: India has emerged as the poster-person of Air Pollution, leaving China far behind. Within air pollution, we perform poorest in PM2.5 and Ozone pollution. Ozone pollution results from NOx and other VOCs released from cars chemical plants, refineries, and most importantly thermal power plants, on which we are still dependent.
3. Heavy Metals: India’s score of 174 shows a very level of Lead (the only metal studied in the report) contamination leading to loss of life. Lead contamination results from unregulated aviation fuel use and metal processing. The human impact ranges from organ failure, birth issues to Cancer.
There is a strong correlation between GDP per capita and EPI, which is expected. One may argue that our poor performance on Environmental Indices are a result of a poor country’s need to develop rapidly. Therefore temporarily, our health must suffer, in some cases fatally, so that we may ‘prosper’ in future. I leave you with the thought that our GDP per capita, after adjusting for inflation, has decreased 2018 to 2020 (before the pandemic’s impact). But the Environmental performance has dipped drastically over the past few years. Are the lung cancers, organ failures and birth defects that we are facing today due to a poisoned environment, a fair price to pay for a ‘maybe’ enhanced economic status in the future?
