Yale University and Columbia University, in collaboration with the World Economic Forum, released on June 4, 2020 their “2020 Environmental Performance Index” (2020 EPI) report which utilizes environmental metrics in order to track countries’ progress when it comes to meeting their environmental policy targets outlined in the United Nations 2015 Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement. In detail, the 2020 EPI assesses the performance of 180 countries across 32 performance indicators belonging to eleven main categories that are classified within two fundamental dimensions of sustainable development, namely, environmental health and ecosystem vitality. The report stated that the metrics upon which the 2020 rankings are based come from several sources, yet warned that the analysis performed does not indicate the most recent developments in the world, namely the significant drop in air pollution in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the green-house gas emissions from the heavy Amazonian fires in 2019. The report stated that the indicators provide the means for spotting problems, setting targets, tracking trends, understanding outcomes, and identifying best policy practices.

In this context, the report raised several conclusions stemming from the 2020 EPI rankings and indicators:

-       Good policy results are associated with wealth (GDP per capita)

-       The pursuit of economic prosperity (illustrated in industrialization and urbanization) generally insinuates more pollution and other strains on ecosystem vitality, particularly in the developing world where air and water emissions remain considerable

-       Despite the fact that top EPI performers pay attention to all aspects of sustainability, their lagging peers lean towards uneven performances

-       The laggards must redouble their sustainability efforts across all fronts

As far as results are concerned, and on a global level, Denmark topped the 2020 EPI list of rankings with an overall score of 82.50. It is worth noting that a score of 0 refers to worst performance while a score of 100 refers to best. Denmark was followed by Luxembourg (score: 82.30) and Switzerland (score: 81.50). Regionally, the United Arab Emirates emerged as the best performer in the 2020 EPI with an overall score of 55.60 and a global rank of 42. Kuwait (score: 53.60; global rank: 47), Jordan (score: 53.40; global rank: 48), and Bahrain (score: 51.00; global rank: 56) came in 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th respectively. Lebanon ranked 6^th on a regional basis and 78^th in the world, scoring 45.40 in the 2020 Environmental Performance Index. The country’s best performance was at the level of the “pollution emissions” (score: 67.10; global rank: 77) and “waste management” (score: 61.40; global rank: 56) sub-indicators, while it performed most poorly on each of the “fisheries” (score: 14.20; global rank: 57) and the “biodiversity & habitat” (score: 21.80; global rank: 168) fronts.