Yale Center for Environmental law and Policy, Yale University http://www.yale.edu/envirocenter
Daniel C. Esty, Director
Christine Kim, Program Director
Tanja Srebotnjak, Statistician
Center for International Earth Science Information Network, Columbia University http://ciesin.columbia.edu
Marc A. Levy, Deputy Director
Alex de Sherbinin, Senior Research Associate
Valentina Mara, Research Associate
World Economic Forum http://www.weforum.org
Fiona Paua, Senior Director, Head of Strategic Insight Teams
Joint Research Centre (JRC) European Commission http://www.jrc.ec.europaeu/
Andrea Saltelli, Unit Head
Michaela Saisana, Researcher
The full report and data can be found online at: http://epi.yale.edu
Genevieve Carr, UNEP GEMS/Water Programme
Aaron Cohen, Health Effects Institute
Jay Emerson, Yale University
Peter Gleick, Pacific Institute
Lloyd Irland, Yale University
Kewin Kamelarczyk, Food and Agriculture Organization
Jonathan Pershing, World Resources Institute
Carmen Revenga, The Nature Conservancy
Sara J. Scherr, Eco-Agriculture Partners
Jackie Alder, University of British Columbia
John Aardenne, Joint Research Centre, EC
Kym Anderson, University of Adelaide
Michelle Bell, Yale University
Tim Boucher, The Nature Conservancy
Amy Cassara, World Resources Institute
Tom Damassa, World Resources Institute
Charlotte de Fraiture, International Water Management Institute
Kailash Govil, Food and Agiculture Organization
Brian Hill, Pesticide Action Network
Peter Holmgren, Forestry and Agricultural Organization
Jon Hoekstra, The Nature Conservancy
Malanding Jaiteh, CIESIN
Michael Jennings, The Nature Conservancy
Carrie Rickwoos, UNEP GEMS/Water
Ariela Summit, Eco-Agriculture Partners
Kirk Smith, University of California, Berkeley
Charles Vorosmarty, University of New Hampshire
Aaron Best, Ecologic
Crystal Davis, World Resources Institute
Andres Gomez, Columbia University
Tobias Hahn, Yale University
Claes Johansson, United Nations Development Programme
Hoseok Kim, Korea Environment Institute
Hak-Kyun Maeng, Ministry of Environment of Korea
Denise Mauzerall, Princeton University
Sascha Muller-Kraenner, The Nature Conservancy
John O’Connor, OconEco
Kiran Pandey, Global Environment Facility
Tom Parris, iSciences
Papa Seck, United Nations Development Programme
Erik Thomsen, DSS Lab
YuLing Yang, Taiwan Environmental Protection Agency
Ruth Wilkie, Former Policy Advisor, New Zealand
Erica Zell, Battell Institute
Melissa Goodall, Associate Director
Jen Ace, Research Assistant
Sara Bushey, Research Assistant
Adrian Deveny, Research Assistant
Eva Gladek, Research Assistant
Allison Guy, Research Assistant
Emily Hallet, Research Assistant
Lauren Hallett, Research Assistant
Yanjing Huang, Research Assistant
Brian Irving, Research Assistant
Claire Jahns, Research Assistant
Meng Ji, Research Assitant
Namrata Kala, Research Assistant
Scott Laeser, Research Assistant
John Chung-En Liu, Research Assistant
Matthew Oden, Research Assistant
Esty, Daniel C., M.A. Levy, C.H. Kim, A. de Sherbinin, T. Srebotnjak, and V. Mara. 2008. 2008 Environmental Performance Index. New Haven: Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy.
This 2008 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) tracks national environmental results on a quantitative basis, measuring proximity to an established set of policy targets using the best data available. Data constraints and limitations in methodology make this a work in progress. Further refinements will be undertaken over the next few years. Comments, suggestions, feedback, and referrals to better data sources are welcome at: http://epi.yale.edu or epi@yale.edu.
The word “country” is used loosely in this report to refer both to countries and other administrative or economic entities. Similarly the maps presented are for illustrative purposes and do not imply any political preference in cases where territory is under dispute.
The 2008 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) represents the result of extensive consultations with subject-area specialists, statisticians, and policymakers around the world. Since any attempt to measure environmental performance requires both an in-depth knowledge of each dimension as well as the relationships between dimensions and the application of sophisticated statistical techniques to each, we have drawn on the expertise of a network of individuals, including: Jackie Alder, Michelle Bell, Aaron Best, Tim Boucher, Geneviève Carr, Amy Cassara, Aaron Cohen, Tom Damassa, Crystal Davis, Ellen Douglas, Darlene Dube, Jay Emerson, Majid Ezzati, Charlotte de Fraiture, Stanley Jay Glidden, Andres Gomez, Tobias Hahn, Peter Holmgren, Jon Hoekstra, Peter Gleick, Kailash Govil, Lloyd Irland, Michael Jennings, Claes Johansson, Kewin Kamelarczyk, Daniel Kammen, Hoseok Kim, R. Andreas Kraemer, Hak-Kyun Maeng, Tamara Maletic, Vali Mara, Denise Mauzerall, Dan Michelson, Sascha Müller-Kraenner, John O’Connor, Kiran Pandey, Tom Parris, Fiona Paua, Jonathan Pershing, Carmen Revenga, Carrie Rickwood, Kim Samuel-Johnson Sara J. Scherr, Papa Seck, Ariela Summit, Kirk Smith, Erik Thomsen, Charles Vorosmarty, Ruth Wilkie, YuLing Yang, and Erica Zell.
We are particularly indebted to the staff and research assistants at the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy: Jen Ace, Sara Bushey, Adrian Deveny, Ysella Edyvean, Eva Gladek, Kaitlin Gregg, Allison Guy, Emily Hallet, Lauren Hallett, Yanjing Huang, Brian Irving, Claire Jahns, Meng Ji, Namrata Kala, Scott Laeser, and Matthew Oden.
The 2008 EPI is built upon the work of a range of data providers, including our own prior data development work for the Pilot 2006 EPI and the 2005 Environmental Sustainability Index. The data are drawn primarily from international, academic, and research institutions with subject-area expertise, success in delivering operational data, and the capacity to produce policy-relevant interdisciplinary information tools. We are indebted to the data collection agencies listed in the Methodology Section, for providing the high-quality information necessary to move environmental decisionmaking toward more rigorous, quantitative foundations.
We wish to acknowledge with gratitude the financial support of The Samuel Family Foundation, The Coca Cola Foundation, and the Betsy and Jesse Fink Foundation.