Asian countries are not in the position of high rank in curbing environmental pollution, an Environmental Performance Index (EPI) ranking report says.

The EPI ranking, published on the sidelines of the annual World Economic Forum meet in Davos on Tuesday shows that the first Asian country is ranked in the number 20th position in the index in curbing the pollution and that country is Japan. In the top 100, there are only 9 Asian countries. The worst Asian Country in curbing pollution is Bangladesh, holding the position 179 among the 180 countries.

The reason why Asian countries are lacking in environmental conservational can be state that because of the population pressure and poverty. Lack of use of up-to-date techniques, lack of awareness and information is a major problem in any kind of conservation work. Moreover political instability in this region is a great impediment in any development work. The conflict between people and the government has been a major issue since the rise of the sovereign countries.

The index shows that the European countries are the top ranked in curbing pollution.

Switzerland emerged the leading country in overall environmental performance with a score of 87.42. France, Denmark, Malta and Sweden were in the top five while the United States made it to the 27th rank. As regards air quality, India scored a mere 5.75, China 14.39 and Pakistan 15.69, and these ?face a public health crisis that demands urgent attention,? according to the report released on Tuesday.

EPI rankings is a bi-annual report produced by researchers at Yale and Columbia Universities in collaboration with the World Economic Forum. To formulate EPI, several key factors are taken into consideration. A total of 24 indicators were evaluated and grouped into ten issues: air quality, water and sanitation, heavy metals, biodiversity and habitat, forests, fisheries, climate and energy, air pollution, water resources, and agriculture.

Source: https://epi.envirocenter.yale.edu/2018/report/category/hlt