The Star Online > Nation
Wednesday January 25, 2006
NEW YORK: Malaysia’s efforts at environmental conservation seem to be paying off. It was ranked ninth, 19 places ahead of the United States, in a study on the environmental performances of 133 countries.
The study, called the 2006 Environment Performance Index, was a joint effort by two of the United States’ best known educational institutions, Yale and Columbia.
It evaluated a number of environmental characteristics prevalent in the 133 countries under scrutiny, ranging from clean drinking water and low ozone levels to sustainable fisheries and low greenhouse gas emissions.
Many experts privately concede that while Malaysia has come under criticism in the past for the deforestation of some parts of its tropical forest, the country has also made tremendous progress in preserving its natural resources.
The SARS scare three years ago, for example, also made Malaysia pursue an aggressive hygiene and sanitation policy, aimed at keeping the epidemic at bay.
Malaysia’s fight against the dreaded bird flu is also perceived
largely as a success story, considering that the epidemic is playing havoc in its neighbourhood.
Only six countries, headed by New Zealand and followed by five North European countries, achieved an 85% or greater success in environmental management.
New Zealand was followed by Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic, Britain, Austria, Denmark and Canada.
After Malaysia was the Republic of Ireland at 10th position.
The United States, at 28th position, was behind many West European countries, Japan, Taiwan, Costa Rica and Chile. However, the United States was ahead of Russia and South Korea.
Hardly surprising were the ratings of many African and Central and South Asian countries. Pakistan and India, which are often criticised for environmental destruction, the lack of hygiene facilities, supply of clean drinking water, and the lack of enforcement by the authorities which are often allegedly slow to crack down on defaulters, scored very poorly indeed in the stu-dy.
The combined study which has been reviewed by US and international experts, will be issued tomorrow during the World Economic Forum, an annual platform in the Swiss resort of Davos for informal meetings between business and political leaders. – Bernama
Related link http://www.yale.edu/ epi/
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