Canada, our Environmental Performance sucks!
Yes, we suck. The latest Environmental Performance Index has been released by Yale & Columbia. It ranks us 46 out of 163 countries, on 25 performance indicators. We're running middle of the pack on score, sandwiched by the likes of Mexico, Ireland, Romania, Netherlands, Fiji and the Maldives. The US is not too far behind us.
Where did we really hurt? Believe it or not, air pollution's impact on the ecosystem (not human impact), was our worst score. We love pumping out sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds and ozone. Next, as anyone on the coastal areas of Canada will tell you, our fisheries has been decimated. We're guilty of trawling and dredging just a little too much. And the final area where we score bad, was climate change. We continue to emit way too much greenhouse gas per capita -- and CO2 for electricity generation.
Topping the list, you'll find four standouts -- Iceland, #1, followed by Switzerland, Costa Rica and Sweden. At the other end, you'll find just about every African and Asian country -- which should come as no surprise. There is a correlation to EPI score and GDP per capita.
For more on Canada's environmental performance, check out the 2008 Canadian Environmental Sustainability Indicators.
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