ndicator of Environmental Policies
The Environmental Protection Index (EPI) is released every two years by the Yale University’s Center for Environmental Law & Policy and the Columbia University’s Center for International Earth Science Information Network, together with the World Economic Forum, an international nonprofit organization based in Switzerland. The 2018 EPI ranks 180 countries according to their performance in addressing environmental issues. It is one of the few independent environmental reports that include the separate data for Taiwan. A high EPI score indicates that a country has adopted some successful environmental policies, whereas a low EPI score reveals that a country still has to take important steps to tackle environmental issues. Switzerland leads the world on environmental performance with an overall score of 87.42 on a scale of 0-100, with 0 being the worst, and 100 the best score. The African country of Burundi obtained the lowest overall score, 27.43.
Serious Challenges Persist Despite Improved Environmental Protection
The 2018 EPI notes that the last decade shows a general trend of improvement of environmental protection. Yet, the progress has not been sufficient to achieve key international targets such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The 2018 EPI states that weak governance and civil unrest have frustrated efficient environmental policies. The threat of air pollution is particularly worrisome. Air pollution is estimated to cause the early death of around 5 million people worldwide every year. That is one in every ten deaths per year. Although air pollution is a global problem, it is particularly serious in China, India, and Pakistan. The 2018 EPI labels air pollution as a public health crisis in these countries.
Economic Wealth Key to Environmental Performance, but Economic Development Possible Threat
The 2018 EPI’s top 10 is entirely made up of Western developed countries. The first developing country on the 2018 EPI is Trinidad & Tobago, at place 35. The 2018 EPI explains that there is a close relationship between a country’s wealth and its environmental performance. This suggests that a country needs sufficient economic resources to take measures to protect ecosystems and public health. However, economic growth may also cause pollution and threaten ecosystems. The 2018 EPI stresses that good governance is needed to balance the tension.
Gap in 2018 EPI Scores in Asia
Japan is the best performing Asian country, with a 20th place overall. Taiwan comes in second in Asia, at place 23. Singapore completes the Asian top 3, at place 49. Bangladesh is the worst performing Asian country, at the bottom of the 2018 EPI at position 179. India did not perform much better and is ranked 177th. Nepal is just one place above, at place 176. China can be found at the 120th place, before Thailand. The 2018 EPI notes that in Asia, the EPI scores vary greatly. It attributes this to the wide differences in economic development between the Asian countries. The wealthy Asian countries have better overall EPI scores than the poor Asian countries.
Taiwan among Environmental Top Performers, but Persisting Major Concerns
Taiwan has an overall EPI score of 72.84. Indicating that it has boosted its environmental performance over the last decade. Noticeably however, Taiwan continues to struggle with worsening air quality, a global problem. Other causes for concern in Taiwan are the ongoing loss of forests and the use of contaminating fertilizers by the agricultural sector.
For the full 2018 Environmental Performance Index and detailed data and explanations, please consult:
https://epi.envirocenter.yale.edu/2018-epi-report/introduction
Executive summary: https://epi.envirocenter.yale.edu/2018-epi-report/executive-summary
Taiwan’s 2018 EPI: https://epi.envirocenter.yale.edu/epi-country-report/TWN
Responsible Editor: Jeroen van Bekhoven
Post-doctoral Fellow, National Taiwan University, College of Law