Egypt Is Middle East Region’s Cleanest and Most Environmental Country
Arwa Aburawa | | 3 Comments | Email this
Egypt topped the world Environmental Performance Index for the Middle East and North Africa region, followed closely by Israel
Every two years, Yale University in collaboration with Columbia University release the world Environmental Performance Index which ranks most countries environmental performance. This year, Egypt topped the list for the MENA region, followed closely by Israel and the United Arab Emirates. In the wider context, however, the region is still trailing far behind with Egypt making it only to the ‘modest performers’ list. Egypt was ranked the 60th most environmental country with an EPI score of 55.18 – Switzerland which topped the chart scored 76.69.
The 2012 world EPI ranked 132 countries on 22 performance indicators including air pollution, water resources, forestry, fisheries, climate change and biodiversity. As well as tracking the environmental record of countries, the EPI list tracks who made the most significant gains in a ‘trends list’.
For example, Egypt made it to the top five in the trends list due to substantial gains made in the environmental health objective. This includes dealing with indoor air pollution, improving access to drinking water and sanitation. Saudi Arabia and Kuwait scored very low on the trends list.
Some of the worst performed in the MENA region included Iraq which scored an EPI of 25.32 due to the water scarcity facing the country, significant sustainability challenges and weak governance structures.
Modest Performers List
- Egypt [EPI score 55.18]
- Israel [54. 64]
- UAE [50.91]
- Saudi Arabia [49.97]
Weaker Performers List
- Algeria [48.56]
- Lebanon [47.35]
- Tunisia [46.66]
- Qatar [46.58
- Sudan [46.00]
- Morocco [45.76]
- Oman [44.00]
- Syria [42.75]
- Iran [42.73]
- Jordan [42.16]
Weakest Performers List
- Libya [37.68]
- Kuwait [35.54]
- Yemen [35.49]
- Iraq [25.32]
Although not included in the MENA region list, Turkey scored 44.8 which places it between Morocco and Oman in the Weaker performers list. To provide a pinch of salt to their research, Yale and Colombia acknowledge that there are significant data gaps in their index. These include nuclear safety, wetlands loss, species loss, freshwater ecosystems health, recycling, desertification and municipal and toxic waste management. For a county by country breakdown of the data go to the EPI website.
: Information and data via EPI 2012.
: Image via Creap/flickr.
For more data-led information on the Middle East’s Environment see:
Water and the Middle East (At A Glance)
3 Responses to “Egypt Is Middle East Region’s Cleanest and Most Environmental Country”
Brian Nitz • February 17th, 2012 • 7:22 am
I can’t remember the name of the Egyptian novelist or the book he wrote about the transition of last spring, but something he wrote struck a chord with me. He dropped a cigarette or piece of rubbish and an old woman ran up to him and told him to pick it up. He was shocked but again she scolded him to pick it up. She told him that if we’re going to have a new Egypt, it should be a clean Egypt.
Despite politics which suggest that people care deeply about land ownership, too often people don’t take ownership of their environment. Here in Ireland 90 years after independence, many people seem to treat the outdoors as if it still belongs to a wealthy British landlord. So Dublin, a city of 1 million has more litter on its streets than Cairo, a metropolis of 7 million. Even in the U.S. more than 200 years after independence, generations after Woody Guthrie’s, “This Land is Your Land”– some people still don’t understand that ownership implies stewardship.
arwa • February 17th, 2012 • 10:54 am
It’s amazing to hear that Egyptians are learning to see Egypt at theirs again!! Even in the small ways.
Thanks for your insightful comment- what you say about people being happy to see ownership but not stewardship is sadly very true everywhere you go. People expect clean streets but they don’t seem to realise that it’s up to them to stop littering…
Arwa
Brian Nitz • February 17th, 2012 • 11:20 am
Thank you for highlighting the good news in MENA’s list. It would be wonderful if this friendly international eco-competition got as much attention as the world cup and the Olympics. Keep up the great writing!