India has scored the lowest among 180 countries in the 2022 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) that evaluated the environmental performance of these countries. The report ranks countries on 40 performance indicators across 11 issue categories on climate change performance, environmental health, and ecosystem vitality. The analysis has been done by researchers at the Earth Institute of Yale and Columbia University.

India’s rank is 180 with a total score of 18.9, and in the last decade, the performance has gone down by 0.6 scores. Pakistan is ranked 176 with a score of 24.6 and Bangladesh is at 177 with a score of 23.2. Nepal is ranked at 162 and Srilanka at 132, while Bhutan is at 85 and Afghanistan at 81.

India has scored 19.3 on ecosystem vitality and the change in this area in the last decade is -2. We have seen a loss in biodiversity and biodiverse habitats. We have lost tree cover, grasslands, and wetlands in large proportions.

India scored 12.5 on health; this means poor air quality, sanitation, and drinking water. Our waste management in terms of solid wastes, ocean plastics, and recycling is also poor. Under climate policy, India has scored 21.7.

Denmark is at the top of the index with an EPI score of 77.9. Among the top 5 are theUnited Kingdom, Finland, Malta, and Sweden.

LEARNING FROM HOME/ WITHOUT CLASSES/ BASICS

ANTHROPOGENIC CLIMATE CHANGE is a change caused by human activity.

CLIMATE CHANGE:  Climate Change refers to any change in climate over time whether due to natural variability or as a result of human activity.             The term is commonly used interchangeably with global warming and greenhouse effects and refers to the increasing concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that traps the sun’s heat and causes changes in weather patterns on a global scale.

         Greenhouse gases allow sunlight (shortwave radiation) to pass through the atmosphere freely, where it is then partially absorbed by the surface of the Earth. Greenhouse gases are able to trap heat (longwave radiation) in the atmosphere, keeping the Earth’s surface warmer than it would be if they were not present. Increases in the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere enhance the greenhouse effect which is creating global warming and consequently climate change.

The principal forcing greenhouse gases are:

Carbon dioxide (CO2); Methane (CH4); Nitrous oxide (N2O);Fluorinated gases

Global warming is the long-term heating of Earth’s climate system observed since the pre-industrial period (between 1850 and 1900) due to human activities, primarily fossil fuel burning, which increases heat-trapping greenhouse gas levels in Earth’s atmosphere. The term is frequently used interchangeably with the term climate change, though the latter refers to both human- and naturally produced warming and the effects it has on our planet.

PARIS AGREEMENT

The Paris Agreement is an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) dealing with greenhouse gas emissions, mitigation and adaptation. The Paris agreement was signed in 2015 by 195 countries. The Paris Agreement entered into force on 4 November 2016.

It sets a global goal of keeping global average temperatures from rising 2°C (compared to temperatures of pre-Industrial Revolution) by the end of the century.It sets a nonbinding agreement for countries to reach peak greenhouse gas emissions “as soon as possible.”

It asks richer countries to help out poorer countries: to give them capital to invest in green technologies, but also to help them brace for a changing world.

The Paris Agreement requires all Parties to put forward their best efforts through “nationally determined contributions” (NDCs) and to strengthen these efforts in the years ahead.

Adaptation

Governments agreed to strengthen societies’ ability to deal with the impacts of climate change;  provide continued and enhanced international support for adaptation to developing countries.

Loss and damage

The agreement also recognises the importance of averting, minimising and addressing loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change.