Seychelles ranked first in ‘climate and energy' category

Seychelles has been ranked first among 180 countries in the Environmental Performance Index – 2018 in the Climate and Energy category and 39^th overall.

This index has been developed by Yale University and Columbia University in collaboration with the World Economic Forum and the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission.

The report was released on January 23, 2018 on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos.

The Environmental Performance Index (EPI) is calculated on the basis of data gathered from 24 individual metrics of environmental performance. These 24 individual metrics are then aggregated into a hierarchy that begins with 10 major environmental issues categories:

1. Air Quality
2. Heavy Metals
3. Biodiversity & Habitat
4. Forests
5. Fisheries
6. Climate & Energy
7. Air Pollution
8. Water resources
9. Agriculture
10. Water & Sanitation

The above 10 environmental issue categories are then divided into two policy objectives viz. Environment health and Ecosystem Vitality. The overall EPI is based on a country’s performance in these 10 issue categories and two policy objectives. High rank in the EPI shows long-standing commitments to protecting public health, preserving natural resources and decoupling greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from economic activity.

The principal secretary for Climate Change and Energy, Wills Agricole, said that the top ranking is due to the efforts Seychelles is making in the three main areas.

Firstly, Seychelles’ rise in the global Climate & Energy issue category is a result of new policy choices that place climate change at the centre of its development strategy. Seychelles is a net sink for global greenhouse gas emissions, the government has integrated decarbonization more purposefully into its actions than most small states.

Secondly, Seychelles has stepped up its effort over the previous years in reducing greenhouse gas emissions by accelerating transition to renewable sources of power through introducing smart renewable energy and energy efficiency schemes in both domestic and commercial sectors.

Thirdly with the policy change in clean and renewable energy, particularly in transport sector with the increased of imported hybrids and electric vehicles in the country which consume less fossil fuel and emit less pollutant into the atmosphere -- hence decoupling greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from economic activity -- has also contributed to this marked improvement

“Nevertheless, serious data gaps limit the ability to measure results – and particularly changes in performance – on a number of important issues. We need to improve on our data collection, reporting, and verification across a range of environmental issues urgently if we want to achieve an even better overall EPI ranking in 2019,” PS Wills Agricole said.

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