Environmental Sustainability Index

The Environmental Sustainability Index is a composite index tracking a diverse set of socioeconomic, environmental, and institutional indicators that characterize and influence environmental sustainability at the national scale.

The Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI) ranks countries on 21 elements of environmental sustainability covering:

• natural resource endowments
• past and present pollution levels
• environmental management efforts
• contributions to protection of the global commons
• a society’s capacity to improve its environmental performance over time

The 2005 Environmental Sustainability Index: Benchmarking National Environmental Stewardship was formally released in Davos, Switzerland, at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum on Friday, 28 January 2005.

In the 2005 Index, Finland ranks first in the world in environmental sustainability out of 146 countries. 

Norway, Uruguay, Sweden and Iceland are ranked two to five respectively.  Their high ESI scores are attributed to substantial natural resource endowments, low population density, and successful management of environment and development issues.

Australia is ranked 13^th just after Gabon (12^th) and before New Zealand (15^th)

The United States is ranked 45^th, just behind the Netherlands (44) and ahead of the United Kingdom (66.

Bottom ranked countries are North Korea, Taiwan and Turkmenistan.

Follow this link to the Yale website to download the 2005 Sustainability Index (opens in a new browser window)

The ESI is an outcome of the Environmental Performance Measurement Project which aims to shift environmental decision-making to firmer analytic foundations using environmental indicators and statistics.

The ESI is produced periodically by a team of environmental experts at Yale University and Columbia University’s Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) in collaboration with the World Economic Forum.

It is an outcome of the Environmental Performance Measurement Project which aims to shift environmental decision-making to firmer analytic foundations using environmental indicators and statistics.

For further information

Contact	:	Melissa Goodall Yale University
Address	:	205 Propect St New Haven CT 06511 USA
Phone	:	203.432.3123
Email	:	melissa.goodall@yale.edu