India ranks second from last in global environment ranking

India ranked 176th out of 177 countries in the 2026 Environment Performance Index, a global assessment of environmental health, ecosystem vitality and climate change mitigation.

It also ranked last among the eight South Asian countries assessed, behind Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Maldives and Bangladesh.

India scored 22.4 out of 100, compared with 74.79 for Estonia, the highest-ranked country in the index.

Compiled every two years by researchers from Yale and Columbia universities and other institutions, the Environment Performance Index evaluated 177 countries.

The countries were assessed across 47 indicators covering 12 categories and three broad policy objectives: environmental health, ecosystem vitality and climate change mitigation.

India ranked 174th in environmental health, 171st in ecosystem vitality and 130th in climate change mitigation.

“India, whose per-capita emissions remain relatively low but are growing rapidly, faces an acute development-versus-pollution tension as hundreds of millions of people gain access to modern energy services but at the price of serious urban air pollution and spiking [green house gas] emissions,” the report noted.

Several of India’s air quality indicators in the last 10 years, including the burden of death and disease from exposure to fine particulate matter and exposure to carbon monoxide and sulphur dioxide, showed negative values.

The Environment Performance Index researchers said that India’s weak performance reflected critical air quality...

Read more