Switzerland the Greenest Country in the World

Earth (TGW) – The Environmental Performance Index (EPI) ranking released today by experts at Yale and Columbia universities lists Switzerland as the greenest country in the world, followed by the Scandinavian bloc (Sweden, Norway, Finland) and then Costa Rica.

How countries were ranked (simplified)

The United States came in at number 39 (it came in #28 in 2006) out of the 149 countries listed, well behind the United Kingdom at 14 and Japan at 21.

"The United States, though very high in the Environmental Health score, ranked at 107th in the Ecosystem Vitality category, below countries like Sudan and Myanmar, which have significant nonenvironmental challenges and limited resources for environmental protection," the experts said in a report accompanying the ranking. "Poor performance in the areas of air emissions and climate change reduced the United States’ score significantly.

"The EPI’s climate change metrics ranking the United States alongside India and China near the bottom of the world’s table are a national disgrace," Gus Speth, dean of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, said in a statement.

Via :: AP