The United States ranks last in almost every indicator.
Environmental Sustainability
| COLOR CODING | |
|---|---|
| Green | Ranked first for statistic |
| Red | Ranked last for statistic |
| Environmental Performance Index | Biodiversity: EPI | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Expenditure on Env. Protection | 2022 Score | 2022 Rank | Ecologic Footprint | Government Leaders, as named by experts | Biodiversity Score | Fisheries Score | Forestry Score | ||
| Australia | 0.70% | 60.1 | 17 | 6.1 | – | 82.1 | 14.6 | N/A | |
| Canada | – | 50 | 49 | 7.9 | 6% | 62.9 | 12.8 | 14.5 | |
| Denmark | 2.12% | 77.9 | 1 | 7.3 | 20% | 76.9 | 10.9 | 10.3 | |
| France | 1.23% | 52.5 | 12 | 4.8 | 12% | 86.5 | 19.50 | 15.7 | |
| Germany | 1.34% | 62.4 | 13 | 4.7 | 22% | 88.5 | 26.9 | 11.5 | |
| Italy | 1.06% | 57.7 | 23 | 4.2 | – | 76.5 | 16.8 | 16.6 | |
| Japan | – | 57.2 | 25 | 4.2 | – | 80.8 | 15.6 | 23.7 | |
| Netherlands | 1.65% | 62.6 | 11 | 6.4 | 13% | 80.10 | 13.00 | 20.4 | |
| Norway | 1.76% | 59.3 | 20 | 5.3 | 16% | 71.2 | 39.7 | 13.6 | |
| Sweden | 2.11% | 72.7 | 5 | 5.5 | 22% | 68.8 | 15.3 | 5.7 | |
| United Kingdom | 0.81% | 77.7 | 2 | 3.9 | 16% | 81.5 | 17 | 11.1 | |
| United States | – | 51.1 | 43 | 7.8 | 5% | 60.60 | 17.2 | 9.8 | |
SOURCES
Expenditure on environment protection: OECD
Government expenditure as a percent of GDP. 2018 for all countries expect for United Kingdom (2017).
Percentages calculated by converting expenditure in national currency to USD, then dividing by county GDP (USD) for the same year.
Environmental Performance Index (columns 2 – 3)
2022 Score
2022 Rank
Ecological Footprint: Living Planet Index
Ecological Footprint per person in global hectares (gha). Measures how much demand human consumption places on the biosphere. 2019.
Government Leaders: GlobeScan 2021
SustainAbility Leaders Survey 2021 Report. Percent of experts surveyed who mentioned each county in response to being asked “What specific national governments do you think are leaders in advancing sustainable development?”
Biodiversity: Environmental Protection Index (columns 6-8)
Biodiversity and Habitat
Indicators include marine protected area, terrestrial biome protection, species protection index, protected area representativeness index, and species habitat. 2022.
Fisheries
The EPI utilizes three indicators, fish stock status, regional marine trophic index, and fish caught by trawling and dredging, to evaluate country performance in fisheries management. 2022.
Forestry
Indicator based on tree cover loss. 2022.
NOTES
“Freshwater fishes and other threatened but overlooked biodiversity must be new flagships for conservation” Mike Baltzer
March 12, 2019.
Out of at least 15,000 species of fish, one-third are considered to be under threat of extinction and there are many more species that have not been accessed. Conservation organizations are calling for more focus on neglected species.
Page updated on 10/1/2023.