Estonia has been ranked as the world's best-performing country in the latest Yale University Environmental Performance Index, followed by Luxembourg and the United Kingdom. The United States slipped to 27th place, while Laos, India, and Bangladesh occupy the bottom three positions among the 177 assessed nations.
Top performers and global trends
The biennial index, produced by Yale since 2002 and shared exclusively with the Guardian, evaluates countries on 47 environmental indicators. These include reductions in air and water toxins, sustainability of forests and fisheries, farmlands, and actions to curb pollutants like pesticides and greenhouse gases. European nations dominate the top 20, with Japan as the only non-European entry at 16th. Australia ranks 25th, two places ahead of the US.
Overall, the scorecard shows long-term progress in reducing environmental hazards such as unsafe drinking water and acid rain-causing pollution. However, the world continues to lag in addressing the climate crisis, with few countries on track to meet net-zero emissions commitments. Recent deadly heatwaves in Europe and the US underscore the urgency.
Expert commentary on progress and gaps
Daniel Esty, an environmental policy expert at Yale, noted: "Air pollution has gotten a lot of attention in a number of countries and significant progress as a result, water availability, healthy drinking water is another issue that there’s a quick public payback to in the political world." He added: "There’s progress on some issues but not enough progress on a critical set of issues like climate change. And there’s nothing like temperatures approach 40C in countries to help sharpen the focus on the need for a stepped up policy response."
Scientists warn that the rapidly heating world is set to breach internationally agreed temperature thresholds soon, leading to more heatwaves, storms, droughts, and conflicts. A new annual global temperature record is virtually certain within the next four years due to a developing El Niño event.
US and China performance
The US, under Donald Trump, has scaled back climate efforts, but the index uses data up to 2024, capturing the end of Joe Biden's presidency. It finds US emissions are falling too slowly to reach net zero by 2050. China, the world's largest carbon emitter, has made huge strides in clean energy but still derives 56% of its electricity from coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel. Its marine conservation and biodiversity stewardship remain poor, though it climbed to 129th position after reducing dangerous air pollution from coal-fired power plants near cities.
UK and European leadership
The UK improved from fifth to third place, citing biodiversity protection, reduced indoor and outdoor air pollution, and greenhouse gas cuts. However, the report cautions that the ranking is relative, and the UK still faces high tree cover loss, bottom trawling, and fertiliser use. "Europe has really stepped out in front and is continuing to pursue climate change with not the full vigor it might have a few years back when the political circumstances were different, but they’re getting the payback for decades now of work on this issue at the cutting edge," Esty said. "The laggards in the US and China both are still lagging, seem to be falling further behind and are holding back the global community’s efforts."
India and developing nations
India's performance is marked down for tree cover loss, pesticide pollution risks, and ocean conservation. Esty commented: "India’s performance is shockingly bad for a country that aspires to be a leader in global terms on the economy." The index often reflects wealth disparities, with poorer nations less able to invest in sanitation or clean energy. Rich countries also offshore manufacturing and waste to developing nations, shifting pollution burdens overseas.
Low-cost solutions and competitive pressure
Esty noted that low-cost options like scaling up renewables have been adopted by many countries as solar and wind become cheaper. However, "it gets harder as you get to the later reductions of emissions that everyone needs to ultimately do to achieve a net zero profile in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050," citing air travel's reliance on fossil fuels. The scorecard's leaderboard spurs competitive efforts among leaders, with autocrats even seeking guidance to improve scores.
