Last week, a dear friend quizzed me, asking if I knew the greenest country in the world. Which was greener than the other?
Hmmmm….Costa Rica? Australia? Canada?
No way.
“Sweden,” said she.
I had not read the research, but passed the Greener question to another friend the next day. Not one to usually guess at these things, she ventured that New Zealand or Australia would surely top the list.
Ever the procrastinator, I finally did my own research and discovered that Yale University has published an authoritative list of the 149 greenest countries on our planet Earth, according to an environmental performance index (EPI)–which weights carbon and sulfur emissions, water purity and conservation practices.
The greenest country in the world?
Switzerland.
Followed by Sweden and Norway, who tied for second place, followed by Finland and Costa Rica. The United States snagged 39th place, ahead of Australia (46th), Netherlands (55th) and Peru (60th). China came in at number 105.
The bottom of the list is occupied by a number of African nations including Sierra Leone, Angola and Niger.
There certainly appears to be a correlation between a country’s wealth and its environmental health, but the real winner in the top five would have to be Costa Rica, which is not a wealthy country, but is one that takes its environment and natural resources very seriously.
Tip of the tophat to: Green Listed, Newsweek, January 23, 2008.
