Environmental No.1

NZ leads the world in environmental performance according to the Pilot 2006 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) released at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Researchers at Yale and Columbia Universities measured how close 133 countries came to reaching 16 environmental goals, which included air quality, biodiversity, sustainable energy, and the provision of clean water. NZ scored 88%, followed by Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic, and the UK, all of which scored 84% or higher. “In spite of data gaps, methodological limitations, and serious scientific uncertainties, the Environmental Performance Index demonstrates that environmental policy results can be tracked with the same outcome-oriented and performance-based rigor that applies to poverty reduction, education, health promotion,” says Marc Levy of Columbia University. “The ability to evaluate policy results is critical in the context of initiatives under the UN Millennium Development Goals to expand investments in environmental sustainability.”