Yale University released their rankings of the World’s Greenest Country. Where did your favorites land on the list of countries going green? And who took top honor as the greenest country in the world?

Yale determined each countries ranking by calculating the countries’ EPI (Environment Performance Index). To establish the EPI, Yale looked at how much carbon and sulfur emissions the country produced, water purity, and conservation practices.

So who took home the pretty blue ribbon for first place? Switzerland! With an EPI score of 95.5 the Swiss took home a first place victory. Switzerland was able to score a 100 when it came to the quality of their water and they received a score of 97.4 out of 100 for their lack of emissions.

As for other countries in the world, coming in last place was Niger (located in western Africa, just south of the Sahara Desert.) Niger had a quality of drinking water score of 8.3 out of 100. The country’s score for sulfur dioxide emissions was at 99.8 out of 100 which helped very so much in their ranking. The United States was given the ranking of 39th in the world. The States scored a 100 for quality of drinking water but that is where the joys end. With a score of 73.7 out of 100, in carbon emissions, it looks like that is the area where much improvement is needed if the U.S hopes to become a contender in the race for 1st place.

What is surprising to see is that 7 of the top 10 ranked countries all came from the European Union.  These 7 countries included Switzerland (ranked 1st), Sweden (2nd), Norway (3rd), Finland (4th), Austria (6th), Latvia (7th), and France (10th). When averaged together, these 7 E.U nations produced less carbon emissions (average score of 86.6 out of 100) then the United States alone. And again the EU nations topped the United States in sulfur dioxide emissions with a score of 94.43, which left the U.S trailing with a score of only 88.4.

Maybe the United States should seek some help on ways to lower their greenhouse gas emissions from the top ranking European countries that helped form the top 10 Greenest Countries in the World.

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