Yale and Columbia Universities along with the World Economic Forum has released a biennial report which states that India is ranked 177 in Environmental Performance Index for the year 2018.
India slipped down to 177 in 2018 from 141 in 2016. This downfall of 36 points makes India languish at the bottom with Bangladesh, Nepal, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Out of 180 member countries, India’s rank of 177 is due to the poor performance in the environmental health policy resulting in deaths due to air pollution. Switzerland tops the list at the 1st place. The report was released on the sidelines of the world economic forum which took place in Davos, Switzerland in January 2018.
The Environmental Performance Index (EPI) analyzes the environmental performance of countries and numerically marks it. Environmental Performance Index (EPI) was developed by Pilot Environmental Performance Index in 2002 to supplement the environmental targets set by the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.
Environment sustainability index (ESI) preceded the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) in 1999. Yale University and Columbia University in collaboration with World Economic Forum and Joint Research Centre developed both these indices. Both these indices were developed to evaluate the environmental health of the countries.
Yale University was founded on October 9 in 1701 in New Haven, Connecticut. It is the third oldest institution for higher education in the United States. It is a private institution whose earlier names were Collegiate School (1701-1718) and Yale College (1718-1887). Peter Salovey is the president of the university.
Columbia University established in 1754 in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is the fifth oldest institution for higher education. It is also a private institution whose earlier name was King’s College (1754-1784) and Columbia College (1784-1813). Lee Bollinger is the president of the university.
World economic forum (WEF) was founded in 1971 by Klaus Schwab. Its headquarters is in Cologny, Geneva, Switzerland. Earlier known as European management forum, WEF is a Swiss nonprofit organization whose motto is “committed to improving the state of the world”.