current affairs Why is India ranked at the bottom of the 2022 Environmental Performance Index?

 

deteriorating air quality and rapidly increasing greenhouse gas emissions are the primary reasons behind India’s low score.

The story so far: India on Wednesday rejected the 2022 Environmental Performance Index (EPI), saying that it makes use of “biased metrics and weights,” after it was placed last.

EPI 2022 ranks India right at the bottom among 180 countries based on performance across parameters related to mitigating climate change, improving environmental health, and protecting ecosystem vitality.

The report is generally prepared by researchers from Yale and Columbia Universities in the United States. Denmark is ranked at the top with a score of 77.90, while India scored 18.90.

Current trends and EPI projections suggest that China, India, the U.S., and Russia will account for over 50 per cent of residual global greenhouse gas emissions in 2050.

Greenhouse gases (GHG) include carbon dioxide, methane, fluorinated gases, and nitrous oxide. To project GHG emission levels in 2050, the study calculates the average rate of increase or decrease in emissions over ten years (2010 – 2019) and extrapolates this trend till 2050.

India rejected this methodology, saying that for a developing country like India, the accurate method would be to calculate GHG emissions per capita. It also said that a model should be created with coefficients taking into account the effect of policies to reduce emissions — such as increased use of renewable energy and electric vehicles or the creation of a carbon sink— , to project the values for future years.The EPI report noted that most countries that scored low have prioritised economic growth over sustainability.