The Baltic state has topped the league table for eco-friendly policies and green efforts.
According to the Yale University Environmental Performance Index (EPI), Estonia is officially the most sustainable country on the planet. The rankings include 177 nations, which have been analysed on 47 indicators across 12 categories spanning three policy objectives: environmental, health, ecosystem vitality and climate change.
Overall, European countries dominated the league table, with the top 15 states all located within the continent. Japan was the highest non-European nation, at 16th overall, followed by Australia at 25. The United States finished 27th.
The United Kingdom was seen as a frontrunner, ranking in third just behind Luxembourg. It’s at this point the results start to look a little less than sensible, though. Although Great Britain has taken enormous steps to tackle things like air pollution, its record on water management is an international embarrassment, biodiversity is amongst the lowest in the world, and much of the widely touted progress on emissions is actually down to exporting heavy polluting services and industries, rather than actually cutting them at source.
Then you have the chaotic recycling system, which although greatly improved with the new ‘simpler’ legislation, still lacks basic provision such as a Deposit Return Scheme for single-use drink containers. This is before we look offshore, towards the failed marine protection areas, sewage run off and overcrowded shipping lanes playing havoc with wildlife. Hardly what you would expect from the third most sustainable country Earth currently has going for it.
But then maybe that’s the harrowing reality. At a time when alarms are sounding over how close we are to crossing several so-called climate tipping points, potentially triggering ecological doom loops that will send environmental conditions spiralling with little hope of reversal, many major corporations and governments are actively doubling down on exploitation and extraction of resources, and general negligence towards our planet. So who says a nation renowned for taking two steps forward and at least one step back on green issues isn’t the third most sustainable?
Certainly not the people behind Yale’s Environmental Performance Index.
Image: Karson / Unsplash
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