Fact Box: Environmental Impact Survey

June 19, 2017

India has been ranked 75th out of 102 countries in a list that ranks the countries in terms of the human impact on environment per person. The ranking has been done by MoneySuperMarket, a UK-based financial services website.
The ranking has been made based on the impact the citizens have on the environment by taking into account energy consumption, air pollution, waste production, reliance on non-renewable energy, the carbon dioxide emissions per capita, wastewater treatment capacity, municipal solid waste generated and tree cover loss etc. Of all the parameters, the most weight has been given to Carbon dioxide emissions, municipal solid waste and energy consumption.

Salient Highlights

Top 10 Performers: Mozambique (1st), Ethiopia (2nd), Zambia (3rd), Latvia (4th), Kenya (5th), Albania (6th), Ghana (7th), Tajikistan (8th), Nepal (9th), Colombia (10th).
Worst Performers: Trinidad and Tobago (102nd), United States (101st), Sri Lanka (100th), Ireland (99th), Canada (98th), China (97th), Australia (96th), South Africa (95th), Cyprus (94th), Malaysia (93rd).
Mozambique has topped the list as it derives almost all of its energy from green sources.
India, on the other hand, has been placed at 75th place as its renewable energy sources make up only 15.2% of all energy sources used.
The US has been placed second last on the list at the 101st position as the U.S. per capita carbon dioxide emissions are 17 tonnes per capita. Further, the country generates 2.58 kgs of municipal solid waste per person, and the energy consumption is 312.79 BTU per capita. Also, its reliance on renewable sources are even lower than India at 12.56%
India, on the other hand, generates 1.7 tonnes of carbon dioxide per capita (between 1990 and 2011), 0.34 kgs of municipal solid waste generated per day per person, and energy consumption at 19.75 BTU (British Thermal Unit.) India has been ranked poorly due to its low reliance on renewable energy (15.2%).
Trinidad and Tobago has been ranked last as it hardly relies on any green energy sources. Africa as a continent has topped the list.