+
Environmental
Health
Canada 98. 9 ■ United States 98. 5 ■ Cuba 96. 4 Chile 93. 3 ■ Costa Rica 93. 2 Ecuador 91. 7 Colombia 91. 4 Mexico 91. 3 Argentina 91. 1 Uruguay 88. 9 Dominican Rep. 88. 8 Venezuela 88. 5 Trinidad/Tobago 88. 4 Jamaica 87. 2 Brazil 86. 9 Panama 86. 4 El Salvador 81. 8 Belize 81. 3 Peru 78. 3 Guatemala 78. 2 Honduras 77. 2 Guyana 75. 3 ■ Paraguay 73. 3 Nicaragua 72. 9 Bolivia 61. 2 Haiti 50. 1
Environmental Health
Data Only:
Barbados 98. 1
St. Kitts & Nevis 96. 9
Bahamas 96. 3
Antigua and Barbuda 91. 5
Grenada 91. 5
St. Lucia 89. 1
AMERICASQUARTERLY.ORG
Ecosystem Vitality =
■ Costa Rica 87. 7
Colombia 85. 2
■ Paraguay 82. 1
Panama 79. 8
Brazil 78. 4
Peru 77. 9
Dominican Rep. 77. 2
Ecuador 77.0
Uruguay 75. 6
Guatemala 75. 1
Canada 74. 4
Nicaragua 74.0
Chile 73. 6
Honduras 73. 6
El Salvador 72. 6
Argentina 72. 5
Venezuela 71. 6
Haiti 71. 3
Jamaica 71.0
Mexico 68. 3
Bolivia 68. 2
■ Cuba 65. 1
■ United States 63. 5
Belize 62. 2
Guyana 54. 4
Trinidad/Tobago 52. 3
Ecosystem Vitality
Data Only:
Suriname 59. 6
EPI
The Big
Movers:
■ Costa Rica 90. 5
Colombia 88. 3
Canada 86. 6
Ecuador 84. 4
Chile 83. 4
Panama 83. 1
Dominican Rep. 83.0
Brazil 82. 7
Uruguay 82. 3
Argentina 81. 8
■ United States 81.0
■ Cuba 80. 7
Venezuela 80.0
Mexico 79. 8
Jamaica 79. 1
Peru 78. 1
■ Paraguay 77. 7
El Salvador 77. 2
Guatemala 76. 7
Honduras 75. 4
Nicaragua 73. 4
Belize 71. 7
Trinidad/Tobago 70. 4
Guyana 64. 8
Bolivia 64. 7
Haiti 60. 7
No EPI Index available for:
Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda,
Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados,
Bermuda, British Virgin Islands,
Cayman Islands, Dominica,
Falkland Islands, French
Guiana, Grenada, Guadeloupe,
Martinique, Montserrat,
Netherland Antilles, Puerto Rico,
St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St.
Pierre & Miquelon, St. Vincent &
the Grenadines, Suriname, Turks
& Caicos Islands, United States
Virgin Islands.
■ Costa Rica
Clearly the star performer
in the Americas, Costa
Rica ranked 5th globally
with an EPI score of 90. 5
compared to an average of 78. 4 in the region.
The only area in which it
demonstrated areas for
improvement are in environmental health, namely
indoor air pollution and
urban particulates, both
issues related to social
policy and development.
■ United States
Compared to developing
countries, the U.S. performs well on the provision
of basic health and safety,
in areas like sanitation,
potable water and incidence of environmental-related disease. It falls
down in ecosystem vitality,
particularly in carbon
emissions, agricultural
subsidies and protection
of marine areas. The U.S.
thus receives an EPI score
of 81, placing it 39th globally. It does well versus
its neighbors ( 78. 4) but
below the EPI of countries
with a comparable GDP
( 86.0).
■ Cuba
Ironically, Cuba follows the
U.S.’s path with a strong
performance on health
and weak performance on
ecosystem vitality. The
drop in the latter, though,
is for different reasons: the
failure of Cuba to pursue
policies of conservation of
marine protected areas,
habitat and cropland.
Nevertheless, its EPI score
of 80. 7 is still above the
regional average of 78. 4.
■ Paraguay
From the bottom of the list,
on health, to the top of the
list on ecosystem vitality.
Paraguay does poorly because it lacks many basic
elements of socioeconomic
development and effective
regulations (in potable water, urban particulates, local ozone) and scores well
in ecosystem vitality in
part also for its low level of
development (low carbon
emissions). Its weak score
in environmental health
places its combined EPI
score below the regional
average.
