Nigeria ranks 168 out of 180 countries in Environment Performance Index 2022

Africa's most populous country, Nigeria, ranked 168 out of 180 nations in the Environment Performance Index (EPI) 2022.

Africa’s most populous country, Nigeria, ranked 168 out of 180 nations in the Environment Performance Index (EPI) 2022.

The largest economy in Africa was at the 41st position out of 46 nations in the sub-Saharan region, as per researchers at Yale Center for International Earth Science Information Network at Columbia University’s Earth Institute, who were the writers of this report.

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Nigeria got 28.32 out of 100 in ‘environment and sustainability’. Mauritania, Chad, Ghana, Madagascar and Liberia are among the nations performing the poorest in Africa on this metric.

In the sub-Saharan region, Seychelles ranked first with a world score of 32/100, followed by Botswana with 35 out of 100 and Sao Tome and Principle with 38/100.

EPI is an international ranking system that estimates nations’ environmental health and sustainability. The assessment is as per 40 performance indicators, listed under three policy objectives: Climate change, environmental health and ecosystem vitality.

India, Republic, Pakistan and Lesotho are among the six worst-performing countries in the world regarding environmental health. This further means that the largest economy in Africa has failed to safeguard its population from environmental health risks, which also include poor air quality, sanitation, heavy metals and drinking water along with waste management.

Economic losses because of the poor air quality in Nigeria have been estimated to be around 1% of the country’s gross domestic product, per a new update on pollution and health published in the journal Lancet on May 17, 2022.

Nigeria is the 53rd most climate-vulnerable nation, as per the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Index, but it is the 6th least-ready nation in the world to adapt to climate change.

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Nigeria is still not making any specific efforts to address these risks, indicating the poor performance on “climate policy” in EPI 2022.

The findings of the EPI are essential since the Climate Change Act (2021), signed on November 18, 2021, is yet to be executed in the country.

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