Green
Mapped: The Greenest Countries in the World
Mapped: The Greenest Countries in the World
From widening wealth disparity to the environmental ramifications of economic development—the growing focus on global sustainability is a clear sign of the times.
Research reveals that when a sustainable ethos is applied to policy and business, it typically bodes well for economies and people alike. By providing benchmarks for those decisions, indexes like Yale’s Environmental Performance Index (EPI) can be critical to measuring national sustainability efforts.
The above map interprets the EPI ranking of 180 economies across 32 environmental health indicators by narrowing in on the top 40 greenest countries.
Who’s the Greenest of them All?
Despite the decades-long trend of globalization, national environmental policies have proved to be widely divergent. The EPI report confirms that those policies—and their positive results—are highly correlated with national wealth.
This is evidenced in the global EPI distributions, seen below:
OVERALL RANK | COUNTRY | SCORE | REGIONAL RANK |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Denmark | 82.5 | 1 |
2 | Luxembourg | 82.3 | 2 |
3 | Switzerland | 81.5 | 3 |
4 | United Kingdom | 81.3 | 4 |
5 | France | 80 | 5 |
6 | Austria | 79.6 | 6 |
7 | Finland | 78.9 | 7 |
8 | Sweden | 78.7 | 8 |
9 | Norway | 77.7 | 9 |
10 | Germany | 77.2 | 10 |
11 | Netherlands | 75.3 | 11 |
12 | Japan | 75.1 | 1 |
13 | Australia | 74.9 | 12 |
14 | Spain | 74.3 | 13 |
15 | Belgium | 73.3 | 14 |
16 | Ireland | 72.8 | 15 |
17 | Iceland | 72.3 | 16 |
18 | Slovenia | 72 | 1 |
19 | New Zealand | 71.3 | 17 |
20 | Canada | 71 | 18 |
21 | Czech Republic | 71 | 2 |
22 | Italy | 71 | 18 |
23 | Malta | 70.7 | 20 |
24 | United States of America | 69.3 | 21 |
25 | Greece | 69.1 | 3 |
26 | Slovakia | 68.3 | 4 |
27 | Portugal | 67 | 22 |
28 | South Korea | 66.5 | 2 |
29 | Israel | 65.8 | 1 |
30 | Estonia | 65.3 | 5 |
31 | Cyprus | 64.8 | 6 |
32 | Romania | 64.7 | 7 |
33 | Hungary | 63.7 | 8 |
34 | Croatia | 63.1 | 9 |
35 | Lithuania | 62.9 | 10 |
36 | Latvia | 61.6 | 11 |
37 | Poland | 60.9 | 12 |
38 | Seychelles | 58.2 | 1 |
39 | Singapore | 58.1 | 3 |
40 | Taiwan | 57.2 | 4 |
41 | Bulgaria | 57 | 13 |
42 | United Arab Emirates | 55.6 | 2 |
43 | North Macedonia | 55.4 | 14 |
44 | Chile | 55.3 | 1 |
45 | Serbia | 55.2 | 15 |
46 | Brunei Darussalam | 54.8 | 5 |
47 | Kuwait | 53.6 | 3 |
48 | Jordan | 53.4 | 4 |
49 | Belarus | 53 | 1 |
50 | Colombia | 52.9 | 2 |
51 | Mexico | 52.6 | 3 |
52 | Costa Rica | 52.5 | 4 |
53 | Armenia | 52.3 | 2 |
54 | Argentina | 52.2 | 5 |
55 | Brazil | 51.2 | 6 |
56 | Bahrain | 51 | 5 |
57 | Ecuador | 51 | 7 |
58 | Russia | 50.5 | 3 |
59 | Venezuela | 50.3 | 8 |
60 | Ukraine | 49.5 | 4 |
61 | Uruguay | 49.1 | 9 |
62 | Albania | 49 | 16 |
63 | Antigua and Barbuda | 48.5 | 10 |
64 | Cuba | 48.4 | 11 |
65 | St. Vincent and Grenadines | 48.4 | 11 |
66 | Jamaica | 48.2 | 13 |
67 | Iran | 48 | 6 |
68 | Malaysia | 47.9 | 6 |
69 | Trinidad and Tobago | 47.5 | 14 |
70 | Panama | 47.3 | 15 |
71 | Tunisia | 46.7 | 7 |
72 | Azerbaijan | 46.5 | 5 |
73 | Paraguay | 46.4 | 16 |
74 | Dominican Republic | 46.3 | 17 |
75 | Montenegro | 46.3 | 17 |
76 | Gabon | 45.8 | 2 |
77 | Barbados | 45.6 | 18 |
78 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 45.4 | 18 |
79 | Lebanon | 45.4 | 8 |
80 | Thailand | 45.4 | 7 |
81 | Suriname | 45.2 | 19 |
82 | Mauritius | 45.1 | 3 |
83 | Tonga | 45.1 | 8 |
84 | Algeria | 44.8 | 9 |
85 | Kazakhstan | 44.7 | 6 |
86 | Dominica | 44.6 | 20 |
87 | Moldova | 44.4 | 7 |
88 | Bolivia | 44.3 | 21 |
89 | Uzbekistan | 44.3 | 8 |
90 | Peru | 44 | 22 |
91 | Saudi Arabia | 44 | 10 |
92 | Turkmenistan | 43.9 | 9 |
93 | Bahamas | 43.5 | 23 |
94 | Egypt | 43.3 | 11 |
95 | El Salvador | 43.1 | 24 |
96 | Grenada | 43.1 | 24 |
97 | Saint Lucia | 43.1 | 24 |
98 | South Africa | 43.1 | 4 |
99 | Turkey | 42.6 | 19 |
100 | Morocco | 42.3 | 12 |
101 | Belize | 41.9 | 27 |
102 | Georgia | 41.3 | 10 |
103 | Botswana | 40.4 | 5 |
104 | Namibia | 40.2 | 6 |
105 | Kyrgyzstan | 39.8 | 11 |
106 | Iraq | 39.5 | 13 |
107 | Bhutan | 39.3 | 1 |
108 | Nicaragua | 39.2 | 28 |
109 | Sri Lanka | 39 | 2 |
110 | Oman | 38.5 | 14 |
111 | Philippines | 38.4 | 9 |
112 | Burkina Faso | 38.3 | 7 |
113 | Malawi | 38.3 | 7 |
114 | Tajikistan | 38.2 | 12 |
115 | Equatorial Guinea | 38.1 | 9 |
116 | Honduras | 37.8 | 29 |
117 | Indonesia | 37.8 | 10 |
118 | Kiribati | 37.7 | 11 |
119 | São Tomé and Príncipe | 37.6 | 10 |
120 | China | 37.3 | 12 |
121 | Samoa | 37.3 | 12 |
122 | Qatar | 37.1 | 15 |
123 | Zimbabwe | 37 | 11 |
124 | Central African Republic | 36.9 | 12 |
125 | Dem. Rep. Congo | 36.4 | 13 |
126 | Guyana | 35.9 | 30 |
127 | Maldives | 35.6 | 3 |
128 | Uganda | 35.6 | 14 |
129 | Timor-Leste | 35.3 | 14 |
130 | Laos | 34.8 | 15 |
131 | Sudan | 34.8 | 16 |
132 | Kenya | 34.7 | 15 |
133 | Zambia | 34.7 | 15 |
134 | Ethiopia | 34.4 | 17 |
135 | Fiji | 34.4 | 16 |
136 | Mozambique | 33.9 | 18 |
137 | Eswatini | 33.8 | 19 |
138 | Rwanda | 33.8 | 19 |
139 | Cambodia | 33.6 | 17 |
140 | Cameroon | 33.6 | 21 |
141 | Viet Nam | 33.4 | 18 |
142 | Pakistan | 33.1 | 4 |
143 | Micronesia | 33 | 19 |
144 | Cabo Verde | 32.8 | 22 |
145 | Nepal | 32.7 | 5 |
146 | Papua New Guinea | 32.4 | 20 |
147 | Mongolia | 32.2 | 21 |
148 | Comoros | 32.1 | 23 |
149 | Guatemala | 31.8 | 31 |
150 | Tanzania | 31.1 | 24 |
151 | Nigeria | 31 | 25 |
152 | Marshall Islands | 30.8 | 22 |
153 | Niger | 30.8 | 26 |
154 | Republic of Congo | 30.8 | 26 |
155 | Senegal | 30.7 | 28 |
156 | Eritrea | 30.4 | 29 |
157 | Benin | 30 | 30 |
158 | Angola | 29.7 | 31 |
159 | Togo | 29.5 | 32 |
160 | Mali | 29.4 | 33 |
161 | Guinea-Bissau | 29.1 | 34 |
162 | Bangladesh | 29 | 6 |
163 | Vanuatu | 28.9 | 23 |
164 | Djibouti | 28.1 | 35 |
165 | Lesotho | 28 | 36 |
166 | Gambia | 27.9 | 37 |
167 | Mauritania | 27.7 | 38 |
168 | Ghana | 27.6 | 39 |
169 | India | 27.6 | 7 |
170 | Burundi | 27 | 40 |
171 | Haiti | 27 | 32 |
172 | Chad | 26.7 | 41 |
173 | Solomon Islands | 26.7 | 24 |
174 | Madagascar | 26.5 | 42 |
175 | Guinea | 26.4 | 43 |
176 | Côte d'Ivoire | 25.8 | 44 |
177 | Sierra Leone | 25.7 | 45 |
178 | Afghanistan | 25.5 | 8 |
179 | Myanmar | 25.1 | 25 |
180 | Liberia | 22.6 | 46 |
Regional grouping in the report include: Global West, Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe, Former Soviet States, Greater Middle East, Latin America & Caribbean, Southern Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa
Scandinavian countries, which tend to have a high GDP per capita, show strong and consistent results across EPI parameters. Denmark for instance—which ranks first overall—leads the world in slowing its growth in CO2 emissions. Meanwhile, neighbor Sweden leads in landfill and recycling treatment, while wastewater treatment is led by a handful of countries within and beyond Scandinavia including Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Singapore, and Sweden.
In North America, Canada claims top spot in the biodiversity and habitat category, while the U.S. ranks sixth in agricultural diversity globally. In Asia, Singapore leads the world in fishery health and sustainability.
Ultimately, it appears the world’s greenest countries tend to focus on all areas of sustainability, while laggard countries show more uneven performance across categories.
What Does “Green” Mean?
Each high-level performance indicator with the EPI, like “environmental health”, is broken into subsections. Nations are scored on each subsector on a scale up to 100. As a result, multiple countries can rank first in any given category.
By evaluating national sustainability on a scale that is unrelated to other nations, we get a clearer idea of comparative national progress, beyond a basic ranking.
For instance, 30 countries tie for first in marine protection, all with scores of 100. This shows that many economies are prioritizing this area of sustainability.
The EPI categories and subsectors are shown in the diagram below:
Each section is weighted differently, and is reflected as a percentage within the index. For example, Ecosystem Vitality accounts for 60% of the EPI, Climate Change makes up 24% of a country’s score, and CO2 emission reduction is weighted at 13.2%.
The Cost of Being Green
Infrastructure costs are one reason why wealthier nations tend to fare better across sustainability measures. Everything from air pollution reduction and water treatment, to hazardous waste control and mitigation of public health crises are especially expensive—but have a huge potential impact on citizens.
This trend can be seen the scatterplot, which demonstrates the distribution of economies evaluated by the EPI:
For a more detailed look, the table below highlights the GDP per capita of each of the top 40 greenest countries, based on data from the World Bank and Statista:
COUNTRY | EPI SCORE | GDP Per Capita | RANK |
---|---|---|---|
Denmark | 82.5 | 60,170 | 1 |
Luxembourg | 82.3 | 114,705 | 2 |
Switzerland | 81.5 | 81,994 | 3 |
United Kingdom | 81.3 | 42,330 | 4 |
France | 80 | 40,494 | 5 |
Austria | 79.6 | 50,138 | 6 |
Finland | 78.9 | 48,783 | 7 |
Sweden | 78.7 | 51,615 | 8 |
Norway | 77.7 | 75,420 | 9 |
Germany | 77.2 | 46,445 | 10 |
Netherlands | 75.3 | 52,331 | 11 |
Japan | 75.1 | 40,247 | 12 |
Australia | 74.9 | 55,060 | 13 |
Spain | 74.3 | 29,600 | 14 |
Belgium | 73.3 | 46,421 | 15 |
Ireland | 72.8 | 78,661 | 16 |
Iceland | 72.3 | 66,945 | 17 |
Slovenia | 72 | 25,946 | 18 |
New Zealand | 71.3 | 42,084 | 19 |
Canada | 71 | 46,195 | 20 |
Czech Republic | 71 | 23,495 | 21 |
Italy | 71 | 33,228 | 22 |
Malta | 70.7 | 29,821 | 23 |
United States of America | 69.3 | 65,298 | 24 |
Greece | 69.1 | 19,583 | 25 |
Slovakia | 68.3 | 19,266 | 26 |
Portugal | 67 | 23,252 | 27 |
South Korea | 66.5 | 31,846 | 28 |
Israel | 65.8 | 43,592 | 29 |
Estonia | 65.3 | 23,723 | 30 |
Cyprus | 64.8 | 27,858 | 31 |
Romania | 64.7 | 12,920 | 32 |
Hungary | 63.7 | 16,732 | 33 |
Croatia | 63.1 | 14,936 | 34 |
Lithuania | 62.9 | 19,602 | 35 |
Latvia | 61.6 | 17,829 | 36 |
Poland | 60.9 | 15,693 | 37 |
Seychelles | 58.2 | 17,448 | 38 |
Singapore | 58.1 | 65,233 | 39 |
Taiwan | 57.2 | 25,873 | 40 |
Despite the strong correlation between GDP per capita and EPI score, developing countries do not have to abandon sustainability efforts. China for instance leads the world in the adoption of electric vehicle technology.
Post-Pandemic Outlook
Although some rankings can seem prosaic, indexes like the EPI provide a helpful benchmark for economies to compare efforts. It also allows governments to iterate and build upon environmental strategies and investments by highlighting what is and isn’t working.
CO2 emissions, for instance, are a major driver of climate change. Although the global economic stall has led to a temporary dip of CO2 emissions in early 2020 (a slower growth rate than the 11% expected rise), global emissions still continue.
However, the EPI shows that investments have impact. High-level sustainability efforts—political commitment, media coverage, regulations—can deliver results, even at the grassroots level.
Technology
Synthetic Biology: The $3.6 Trillion Science Changing Life as We Know It
The field of synthetic biology could solve problems in a wide range of industries, from medicine to agriculture—here’s how.

How Synthetic Biology Could Change Life as we Know it
Synthetic biology (synbio) is a field of science that redesigns organisms in an effort to enhance and support human life. According to one projection, this rapidly growing field of science is expected to reach $28.8 billion in global revenue by 2026.
Although it has the potential to transform many aspects of society, things could go horribly wrong if synbio is used for malicious or unethical reasons. This infographic explores the opportunities and potential risks that this budding field of science has to offer.
What is Synthetic Biology?
We’ve covered the basics of synbio in previous work, but as a refresher, here’s a quick explanation of what synbio is and how it works.
Synbio is an area of scientific research that involves editing and redesigning different biological components and systems in various organisms.
It’s like genetic engineering but done at a more granular level—while genetic engineering transfers ready-made genetic material between organisms, synbio can build new genetic material from scratch.
The Opportunities of Synbio
This field of science has a plethora of real-world applications that could transform our everyday lives. A study by McKinsey found over 400 potential uses for synbio, which were broken down into four main categories:
- Human health and performance
- Agriculture and food
- Consumer products and services
- Materials and energy production
If those potential uses become reality in the coming years, they could have a direct economic impact of up to $3.6 trillion per year by 2030-2040.
1. Human Health and Performance
The medical and health sector is predicted to be significantly influenced by synbio, with an economic impact of up to $1.3 trillion each year by 2030-2040.
Synbio has a wide range of medical applications. For instance, it can be used to manipulate biological pathways in yeast to produce an anti-malaria treatment.
It could also enhance gene therapy. Using synbio techniques, the British biotech company Touchlight Genetics is working on a way to build synthetic DNA without the use of bacteria, which would be a game-changer for the field of gene therapy.
2. Agriculture and Food
Synbio has the potential to make a big splash in the agricultural sector as well—up to $1.2 trillion per year by as early as 2030.
One example of this is synbio’s role in cellular agriculture, which is when meat is created from cells directly. The cost of creating lab-grown meat has decreased significantly in recent years, and because of this, various startups around the world are beginning to develop a variety of cell-based meat products.
3. Consumer Products and Services
Using synthetic biology, products could be tailored to suit an individual’s unique needs. This would be useful in fields such as genetic ancestry testing, gene therapy, and age-related skin procedures.
By 2030-2040, synthetic biology could have an economic impact on consumer products and services to the tune of up to $800 billion per year.
4. Materials and Energy Production
Synbio could also be used to boost efficiency in clean energy and biofuel production. For instance, microalgae are currently being “reprogrammed” to produce clean energy in an economically feasible way.
This, along with other material and energy improvements through synbio methods, could have a direct economic impact of up to $300 billion each year.
The Potential Risks of Synbio
While the potential economic and societal benefits of synthetic biology are vast, there are a number of risks to be aware of as well:
- Unintended biological consequences: Making tweaks to any biological system can have ripple effects across entire ecosystems or species. When any sort of lifeform is manipulated, things don’t always go according to plan.
- Moral issues: How far we’re comfortable going with synbio depends on our values. Certain synbio applications, such as embryo editing, are controversial. If these types of applications become mainstream, they could have massive societal implications, with the potential to increase polarization within communities.
- Unequal access: Innovation and progress in synbio is happening faster in wealthier countries than it is in developing ones. If this trend continues, access to these types of technology may not be equal worldwide. We’ve already witnessed this type of access gap during the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, where a majority of vaccines have been administered in rich countries.
- Bioweaponry: Synbio could be used to recreate viruses, or manipulate bacteria to make it more dangerous, if used with ill intent.
According to a group of scientists at the University of Edinburgh, communication between the public, synthetic biologists, and political decision-makers is crucial so that these societal and environmental risks can be mitigated.
Balancing Risk and Reward
Despite the risks involved, innovation in synbio is happening at a rapid pace.
By 2030, most people will have likely eaten, worn, or been treated by a product created by synthetic biology, according to synthetic biologist Christopher A. Voigt.
Our choices today will dictate the future of synbio, and how we navigate through this space will have a massive impact on our future—for better, or for worse.
Energy
How Far Are We From Phasing Out Coal?
In 2021 coal-fired electricity generation reached all-time highs, rising 9% from the year prior. Here’s what it’d take to phase it out of the energy mix.

How Far Are We From Phasing Out Coal?
This was originally posted on Elements. Sign up to the free mailing list to get beautiful visualizations on natural resource megatrends in your email every week.
At the COP26 conference last year, 40 nations agreed to phase coal out of their energy mixes.
Despite this, in 2021, coal-fired electricity generation reached all-time highs globally, showing that eliminating coal from the energy mix will not be a simple task.
This infographic shows the aggressive phase-out of coal power that would be required in order to reach net zero goals by 2050, based on an analysis by Ember that uses data provided by the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Low-Cost Comes at a High Environmental Cost
Coal-powered electricity generation rose by 9.0% in 2021 to 10,042 Terawatt-hours (TWh), marking the biggest percentage rise since 1985.
The main reason is cost. Coal is the world’s most affordable energy fuel. Unfortunately, low-cost energy comes at a high cost for the environment, with coal being the largest source of energy-related CO2 emissions.
China has the highest coal consumption, making up 54% of the world’s coal electricity generation. The country’s consumption jumped 12% between 2010 and 2020, despite coal making up a lower percentage of the country’s energy mix in relative terms.
Top Consumers | 2020 Consumption (Exajoules) | Share of global consumption |
---|---|---|
China 🇨🇳 | 82.3 | 54.3% |
India 🇮🇳 | 17.5 | 11.6% |
United States 🇺🇸 | 9.2 | 6.1% |
Japan 🇯🇵 | 4.6 | 3.0% |
South Africa 🇿🇦 | 3.5 | 2.3% |
Russia 🇷🇺 | 3.3 | 2.2% |
Indonesia 🇮🇩 | 3.3 | 2.2% |
South Korea 🇰🇷 | 3.0 | 2.0% |
Vietnam 🇻🇳 | 2.1 | 1.4% |
Germany 🇩🇪 | 1.8 | 1.2% |
Together, China and India account for 66% of global coal consumption and emit about 35% of the world’s greenhouse gasses (GHG). If you add the United States to the mix, this goes up to 72% of coal consumption and 49% of GHGs.
How Urgent is to Phase Out Coal?
According to the United Nations, emissions from current and planned fossil energy infrastructure are already more than twice the amount that would push the planet over 1.5°C of global heating, a level that scientists say could bring more intense heat, fire, storms, flooding, and drought than the present 1.2°C.
Apart from being the largest source of CO2 emissions, coal combustion is also a major threat to public health because of the fine particulate matter released into the air.
As just one example of this impact, a recent study from Harvard University estimates air pollution from fossil fuel combustion is responsible for 1 in 5 deaths globally.
The Move to Renewables
Coal-powered electricity generation must fall by 13% every year until 2030 to achieve the Paris Agreement’s goals of keeping global heating to only 1.5 degrees.
To reach the mark, countries would need to speed up the shift from their current carbon-intensive pathways to renewable energy sources like wind and solar.
How fast the transition away from coal will be achieved depends on a complicated balance between carbon emissions cuts and maintaining economic growth, the latter of which is still largely dependent on coal power.
-
Misc1 week ago
The Top 10 Largest Nuclear Explosions, Visualized
-
Technology4 weeks ago
How Do Big Tech Giants Make Their Billions?
-
Energy2 weeks ago
Mapped: Solar and Wind Power by Country
-
Datastream4 weeks ago
Visualizing Companies with the Most Patents Granted in 2021
-
Politics1 week ago
Mapped: The State of Global Democracy in 2022
-
Technology2 weeks ago
Synthetic Biology: The $3.6 Trillion Science Changing Life as We Know It
-
Markets3 weeks ago
Why Investors Tuned Out Netflix
-
Markets3 weeks ago
Charted: U.S. Consumer Debt Approaches $16 Trillion