The index ranks countries on a range of indicators that consider the health of their environment, how they enhance or damage ecosystems and efforts to combat climate change.
The UAE has been ranked top in the Middle East region in the Environmental Performance Index published by Yale and Columbia universities.
The influential index scores countries based on their environmental sustainability. Denmark topped the list while India came last. The UAE was ranked joint in 39th place globally (alongside Antigua & Barbuda) out of the 180 nations included.
The environmental performance index ranks countries on a range of indicators that consider the health of their environment, how they enhance or damage ecosystems and their efforts to combat climate change.
"High-scoring countries exhibit long-standing and continuing investments in policies that protect environmental health, preserve biodiversity and habitat, conserve natural resources, and decouple greenhouse gas emissions from economic growth,” the index report states.
The UAE scored 52.4 out of 100, which places it first out of 16 countries from the “Greater Middle East” category.
The score is based on 40 categories in total. For five of these categories, the UAE achieved a maximum 100 score. These were marine protected areas, wetland loss, household solid fuels, black carbon growth rate and CO2 from land cover.
The UAE all scored highly (80.3) for biodiversity, which averages performance across a range of categories, including some that look at how much of the country’s land habitats are in protected areas. The report stated that UAE, Israel, and Singapore are all water-stressed countries that earn top scores in water resources.
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