Estonia leads 2026 Environmental Performance Index; Europe dominates top 20

Estonia has been ranked first in the 2026 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) with a score of 74.79. The index, published by the Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy and Yale and Columbia universities, evaluates 176 countries across 47 indicators including climate change, air quality, and biodiversity Source: La República, Euronews.

Europe's dominance

European countries occupy the top ten positions, with Luxembourg (74.24), the United Kingdom (71.51), Finland (71.04), the Netherlands (70.49), Germany (69.93), France (69.82), Norway (69.24), Sweden (69.2), and Austria (66.8) following Estonia Source: La República. In fact, European nations hold all but one of the top 20 spots; Japan ranks 16th with a score of 63.15 Source: La República. Euronews notes that Estonia's lead is largely due to significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation, as the country shifts from oil shale to renewable energy Source: Euronews. More than 50% of Estonia's territory is covered by protected forests and wetlands, contributing to biodiversity Source: Euronews.

Gaps remain

Despite the strong performance, even the top scorer remains far from ideal levels. Estonia achieved only 75 points according to Euronews (versus 74.79 in La República), underscoring the gap needed to meet global climate goals. "If countries want to maintain a trajectory towards net-zero emissions in 2050, they will need to achieve significant emission reductions continuously, which will require additional policies in the future," said Zach Wendling, lead author of the report Source: Euronews. Meanwhile, countries at the bottom of the index—Laos, India, Bangladesh, Mali, and Vietnam—face severe environmental degradation Source: Euronews. Latin American nations like Chile (score 50.95, rank 41) and Costa Rica (rank 45) show progress, while Colombia ranks 48 with 48.83 points Source: La República.