Jordan record slow progress in Environmental Performance Index

The annual Environmental Performance Index 2006report has been published last month by the by the Center for Environmental Law & Policyat Yale University and the Center for International Earth Science Information Network(CIESIN) at Columbia University in collaboration with the World Economic Forum. This report analyses the environmental performance of countries based on various policy indicators and comes up with a list of countries ranked by the EPI.

The EPI centers on two broad environmental protection objectives: 1) reducing environmental stresses on human health and 2) protecting ecosystem vitality. Derived from a careful review of the environmental literature, these twin goals mirror the priorities expressed by policymakers, most notably the environmental dimension of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals. Environmental health and ecosystem vitality are gauged using sixteen indicators tracked in six established policy categories: Environmental Health, Air Quality, Water Resources, Biodiversity and Habitat, Productive Natural Resources, and Sustainable Energy.

In this years report, Jordan was ranked at (64) with a slow improvement from last years position of (86). Lebanon was the best achiever in the Arab world ranked at (36) followed by UAE at (47), Saudi Arabia at (59), Oman at (60), Algeria at (63) and then Jordan. The worst performer in the Arab World was Sudan at (124).

Regarding winners, the list puts New Zealand at the top followed by Sweden and Finland. In a welcome statement of reality the USA was back at (28).

You can take a look at the full ranking here while you can download all the report and its various statistics from this link