India ranked 176th in EPI ranking (file photo)
Digital Desk, New Delhi. Environmental Performance Index (EPI) is once again in the news amid increasing pollution and health crisis in Delhi-NCR. America's Yale University has released the updated EPI ranking, which has once again exposed the weak position of India.
In fact, in the updated EPI ranking released by America, India is ranked 176th among 180 countries. Whereas European countries like Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg, Britain remain at the top on the basis of strong policies. On one hand, strict laws ranging from carbon tax to forest conservation have kept Europe at the top, while on the other hand, lack of legal binding of targets in India remains a major reason.
Let us tell you that EPI assesses countries on the basis of more than 50 indicators including air quality, clean water, biodiversity, carbon emissions and human health. On all these parameters the European model looks strong and stable.
Denmark was the first in the world to make pollution expensive by implementing a carbon tax in 1990 and legally set a target of reducing its emissions by 70% by 2030. During this period, Finland linked forest conservation with development. After this, changes in the Forest Act made it mandatory to plant more trees than those cut.
On the contrary, India has fixed the targets of achieving net-zero by 2070 and reducing emissions by 2030, but has not set any legal obligation for this. This is the reason why there is poor air quality, water crisis and development pressure on biodiversity, due to which it remains in the bottom ranking. Considering the present situation, there is a need to take environmental protection seriously in India.
50% of electricity in Denmark comes from wind energy
50% of electricity in Denmark comes from wind energy. Here, by passing the Climate Act in 2019, it has been made a legal obligation to reduce carbon emissions by 70% by 2030. About 60% of people in Copenhagen go to work by bicycle. This directly reduced transport pollution.
At the same time, Climate Change Act was passed in Britain in 2008. Which no one has changed till date. This is the reason why Britain's ranking is stable today. Finland linked development to the protection of forests. Under the law here, more trees were planted than were cut.