Julia Wilde is the author of this video posted via the channel youtube DNews in which a general overview of the most eco friendly or respectful countries with the environment. The ranking varies depending on who is doing the study, since different criteria must be taken into account when calculating these indices.
According to the Better life Index published According to the OECD, the country that harms the environment the least is Sweden. The data is not surprising considering that it is one of the leading countries in sustainable initiatives. Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Finland are some of the members of the top 10.
Yale University instead publishes an index called EPI (Environmental Performance Index) in which the countries are completely different. Switzerland leads followed by Luxembourg, Australia, Singapore and the Czech Republic. In this index, in addition to taking into account factors such as water quality or air pollution, an attempt is made to measure less tangible aspects such as the health of the ecosystem. Ecosystem health is measured by taking into account protected habitats, fish populations, or energy use.
The variety of indices means that the countries that appear in each of them are completely different, and as more is known about the environment, the more difficult it is to measure these aspects. Is it objective to measure ecosystem health? Just by naming land as natural habitats already gives points to go up in the ranking? The truth is that there is still a lot to investigate and work so that together we can achieve a greener world.