The World's Cleanest Countries

Andy Stone, 04.15.09, 12:00 PM EDT

Forbes.com

Europe, led by Switzerland, leads the way as the U.S. falls.

The declining health of Mother Earth has drawn growing attention over the last two decades, with countries coming together to fight a range of environmental threats, from declining fishing stocks to global warming.

Witness the Kyoto Protocol, the first widely adopted set of environmental protection guidelines, which emerged during the 1990s and took effect in 2005. Kyoto led to the development of the first large-scale emissions trading market, Europe's Greenhouse Gas Emission Trading Scheme, which puts caps on carbon dioxide pollution. A similar carbon market, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, began operating at the start of this year in 10 Eastern U.S. states.

In spite of nearly universal support for a cleaner globe (the U.S. was one of only a few countries that failed to adopt Kyoto), it's mainly the rich nations that enjoy pristine environments, according to the Environmental Performance Index (EPI). Columbia University's Center for International Earth Science Information Network and Yale University's Center for Environmental Law and Policy developed the index to highlight the cleanest countries, and give laggards the opportunity to benchmark efforts to improve their own environments and the health of their citizens.

Switzerland tops the list with an overall EPI score of 95.5 out of 100, while European countries account for 14 of the top 20 environmental performers. Europe has the infrastructure to provide clean drinking water and treat waste water, lowering the likelihood that Europeans will suffer from waterborne disease. Europe scores consistently well in EPI's environmental health ranking, which measures the effects of pollution on human health.

A second broad measure, ecosystem vitality, measures the health of fisheries, the amount of greenhouse gases a country pumps into the air and how well it preserves the diversity of its plants and animals. On this measure, the performance of developed countries diverges. Scandinavia, with its low population and vast open spaces, enjoys pristine forests and relatively little air pollution.

The U.S., once a leader in environmental protection, has failed to keep pace. "Starting 25 years ago, the United States started to fall behind in relative terms. Before that time, Europe always had dirtier air and drinking water," says Mark Levy, associate director of Columbia University's earth science center.

Then-President George H. W. Bush signed the last significant American air quality legislation in 1990, an amendment to the Clean Air Act. The U.S. scores a meager 63.5 on the ecosystem vitality scale, vs. an average score of 74.2 for the world's richest nations. The U.S.' overall EPI score is 81, putting it in 39th place on the list.

Improved science has led to a better understanding of the linkage between pollution and human health. "The science that's come out has shown that the harder you look for air-pollution-related health problems, the more you find," says Levy. "Scientists have recommended that environmental regulations be tightened. Europe has done that, but the U.S. has been stuck."

Countries are also handicapped according to their locations, with sub-Saharan African countries suffering from scant and poor-quality water, and Asian countries affected by depleted fishing stocks. Switzerland's weakest marks come in agriculture, in part because farmers in the mountainous country have a tendency to overwork their limited crop land.

A few developing nations break into the top 10 of the rankings. Costa Rica has a per-capita gross domestic product of $11,600, but ranks fifth overall as it protects its forests and rich biodiversity, both lures for ecotourists.

Another Latin American country, Colombia, ranks ninth overall. The country carefully guards its coffee plantations, a source of lucrative exports. Ironically, the presence of guerrillas and drug lords also makes the countryside hard to develop, even as developers rapidly cut down rainforest in neighboring Brazil.

EPI researchers caution that the information used to develop the scale often comes from local sources and can be of less-than-ideal quality, especially in developing countries. They ranked 149 countries, and left the remaining 50 or so off the list for insufficient data.

Switzerland
Score: 95.5 No. 1 Overall; No. 1 in the E.U.
The world's fifth most affluent nation on a GDP-per-capita basis is also the world's cleanest. Switzerland scores a perfect 100 in eight environmental indicators, including sanitation and water quality, forest health and pesticide regulation. All that cleanliness translates into a life expectancy of 81 years for the Swiss. But Switzerland's mountainous landscape forces farmers to grow crops on every slope and in every cranny, reducing the country to a merely average score in agricultural practices.

Sweden
Score: 93.1 No. 2 Overall (tie); No. 2 in the E.U. (tie)
Sweden scores strongly in most environmental areas that directly affect human health. The country has low levels of airborne pollution, pristine drinking water and low per-capita emissions of greenhouse gasses. Nine million Swedes also treat their forests with utmost care--the country earns a perfect score for forest management. But they're not nearly as careful offshore, earning a score of just 26 for slack protection of marine areas.

Norway
Score: 93.1 No. 2 Overall (tie); No. 2 in the E.U. (tie)
European countries stand out in environmental health, the effect of pollutants on human well-being. Norway, the world's third richest country, scores a perfect 100 in water quality, sanitation, ozone levels and airborne particulates, which means Norwegians have a lesser likelihood of respiratory disease. Hydro power generates 98% of Norway's electricity, but offshore oil rigs generate substantial greenhouses gasses

Costa Rica
Score: 90.5 No. 5 Overall; No. 1 in the Americas
Costa Rica's economy relies on a robust ecotourism industry, and the care it takes for its environment shows. The Central American country ranks fifth in the global Environmental Index, a rating that should only improve as it strives to become carbon-neutral by 2021. Costa Rica has avoided the deforestation that ravages some Latin American countries: the country earns a score of 97 or better in the categories of forestry, air pollution and climate change. But the country isn't as kind to its offshore environment, scoring abysmally in the marine protected areas category.

Colombia
Score: 88.3 No. 9 Overall; No. 2 in the Americas
Colombia's relative prosperity is tied to the productivity of its land, specifically agricultural products like coffee and flowers that provide export income. The South American country preserves the quality of its crop land by making sure that soil is allowed to lie fallow--at least 40% of cropping areas are left uncultivated at any given time--earning Colombia a 99.9 score in the intensive crop land category. Columbia's clean environment makes for a healthy population with a life expectancy of 73 years.

New Zealand
Score: 88.9 No. 7 Overall; No. 1 in Asia and Pacific
Sparsely populated New Zealand is an outdoorsman's paradise, and the country pays great attention to maintaining its environment. New Zealand scores 84.9 on the effective conservation index, far outpacing its regional and economic peers, which earn an average a score of 30. New Zealand earns near-perfect scores for water and air quality as well. But the country's industry and utility sectors are dirty, generating more than their fair share of CO2.

Japan
Score: 84.5 No. 21 Overall; No. 2 in Asia and Pacific
Japan's life expectancy of 82.12 years is the world's longest, due in part to the country's excellent sanitation infrastructure, avoidance of chemical pesticides and relatively low levels of air pollution. Japan even gets a perfect score of 100 for its efforts to conserve forests. But overfishing of coastal waters earns Japan a score of 81.6 for the measure of marine biodiversity, vs. 88.8 for its regional peers.

Croatia
Score: 84.6 No. 20 Overall; No. 1 in Eastern Europe and Central Asia
Croatia recognizes the value of tourism and makes clean beaches a priority. The country, which lies across the Adriatic Sea from Italy, offers visitors ample, healthy fishing stocks and freedom from waterborne disease. But the legacy of decades of communist rule endures: Soviet-era industry pumps out greenhouse gasses and particulates, causing the country's air quality to suffer. Croatia's overall biodiversity index score is just 14, vs. a still-weak 34.8 for the region.


Albania
Score: 84 No. 25 Overall; No. 2 in Eastern Europe and Central Asia
Albania, like its Eastern European peers, is no environmental superstar. But the country has never fully industrialized--it's per-capita GDP is just $6,000--saving it from toxic development that continues to handicap the region. The lack of industry means Albania produces little greenhouse gas and rates a near-perfect 99.1 for its low level of ozone. But the propensity for wood-burning heating causes Albania to rate just 47.7 on the indoor air pollution index.

Israel
Score: 79.6 No. 49 Overall; No. 1 in the Middle East and North Africa
The 7.2 million residents of Israel enjoy water quality, sanitation and air quality scores that rival those in Europe's cleanest countries, contributing to a life expectancy of 81 years. The generally dry country even scores a 100 for the management of its limited forests. But Israel scores an abysmal 4.5 out of 100 on pesticide regulation, vs. an average of 56.4 for the region, suggesting toxic chemicals may find their way into the food supply.


Cyprus
Score: 79.2 No. 52 Overall; No. 2 in the Middle East and North Africa
This island nation of 800,000 in the Eastern Mediterranean stands out in sanitation and drinking-water quality, both of which earn perfect marks. But Cyprus' water supply is under pressure as salt water invades the country's largest aquifer. And Cyprus lags other wealthy countries--its per-capita GDP is $28,000--in overall ecosystem health. The country falls behind in terms of habitat preservation and pumps out a disproportionate volume of greenhouse gases.

Mauritius
Score: 78.1 No. 58 Overall; No. 1 in Sub-Saharan Africa
This relatively prosperous island state of 1.3 million, located 1,200 miles off of Africa's east coast in the Indian Ocean, stands out for its exceptional environmental health score of 97.7, versus an average of 44.5 for sub-Saharan African countries. Mauritius' clean drinking water, sound sanitation infrastructure and clean air rival Scandinavian countries, meaning that the environment is rarely a source of human ailments. But Mauritius, which was once home to the extinct Dodo bird, has high per-capita greenhouse gas emissions.

Gabon
Score: 77.3 No. 64 Overall; No. 2 in Sub-Saharan Africa
This West African country of 1.5 million has the highest Human Development Index score in all of sub-Saharan Africa, according to the United Nations, though the life expectancy is still just 53 years. Gabon's forestry score of 99, nearly perfect, means it excels in the management of its rich flora. This nation scores well for its low greenhouse gas emissions and high quality air, but suffers from poor drinking water and sanitation infrastructure.