India has shown a dismal performance in the recently released 2026 Environmental Performance Index. India ranks 176 out of 177 countries in the global assessment compiled by researchers at Yale and Columbia universities. Environmental health, India ranks second from the bottom with a score of just 22.46 out of 100 on the index, which is based on ecosystem vitality and climate change mitigation. On the other hand, India is at the bottom among the eight South Asian countries named Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Maldives and Bangladesh are also lagging behind, the report said.
The index, published every two years, rates countries on 47 indicators across 12 categories. India scores 174 on environmental health among the index’s three main policy objectives, 171 in ecosystem vitality and 130 in climate change mitigation. A score is included in this list‘Nia topped the list and Laos ranked 177th with a score of 21.78. Likewise, other European countries such as Luxembourg, UK, Finland and the Netherlands round out the top five of the list.
According to reports, The conflict between rapid development and pollution is a major challenge for India. Millions of people in the country have access to modern energy services, but prices are dramatically increasing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in urban areas. According to researchers, India’s poor performance is mainly due to terrible air pollution, Reflects continued reliance on coal-based energy and lack of biodiversity conservation. Fine particles in the last ten years, Carbon mind‘Indicators are also negatively affected by increased mortality and morbidity trends due to exposure to oxides and sulfur dioxide. Also, India’s performance in marine protected areas and marine food chain is also disappointing.
Despite its overall low ranking, India has shown some positive trends in measuring change over the past ten years. In this case, India’s S.K‘A positive 7.47 which is better than countries like Romania and the Dominican Republic According to Zachary Wendling, director of research at the Environmental Performance Index, Applying the current method to historical data shows that India’s performance has improved over time. However, emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases remain high today, Still, the rate of increase in pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxide is slower than in the past, he suggests.
It is noteworthy that, The Union Environment Ministry immediately rejected the report when India was ranked last among 180 countries in the 2022 Environmental Performance Index. The ministry complained that the methodology of the index was unscientific and lamented that it did not include data on India’s historically low per capita emissions. In response, the index’s chief scientist clarified that the assessment is based on the current actual state of the environment rather than historical emissions or government policy objectives. This year’s disappointing results have once again raised questions about the country’s environmental protection and implementation of government policies, and the Indian government’s subsequent official response to the issue., It is remarkable‘b.