Taiwan Province of China

A “proximity-to-target methodology” is used to assess how close each country is to an identified policy target. Country scores are determined by how close or far countries are to targets. Scores are standardized (i.e., on a scale of 0 to 100) for comparability, weighting, and aggregation. The Environmental Performance Index (EPI) is constructed through the calculation and aggregation of 20 indicators reflecting national-level environmental data. These indicators are combined into nine issue categories, each of which fit under one of two overarching objectives. The two objectives that provide the overarching structure of the EPI are Environmental Health and Ecosystem Vitality. Environmental Health measures the protection of human health from environmental harm. Ecosystem Vitality measures ecosystem protection and resource management. These two objectives are further divided into nine issue categories that span high-priority environmental policy issues, including air quality, forests, fisheries, and climate and energy, among others. The issue categories are extensive but not comprehensive. Underlying the nine issue categories are 20 indicators calculated from country-level data and statistics. After more than 15 years of work on environmental performance measurement and six iterations of the EPI, global data are still lacking on a number of key environmental issues. These include: freshwater quality, toxic chemical exposures, municipal solid waste management, nuclear safety, wetlands loss, agricultural soil quality and degradation, recycling rates, adaptation, vulnerability, and resiliency to climate change, desertification.

World and National CO2 Emissions from Fossil-Fuel Burning, Cement Manufacture, and Gas Flaring. Source: Tom Boden, Gregg Marland and Bob Andres (Oak Ridge National Laboratory)

Direct greenhouse gases: Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Methane (CH4), Nitrous Oxide (N2O), Hydrofluorocarbons (HFC-23, 32, 125, 134a, 143a, 152a, 227ea, 236fa, 245fa, 365mfc, 43-10-mee), Perfluorocarbons (PFCs: CF4, C2F6, C3F8, c-C4F8, C4F10, C5F12, C6F14, C7F16), Sulfur Hexafluoride (SF6), Nitrogen Trifluoride (NF3) and Sulfuryl Fluoride (SO2F2). Emissions are calculated by individual countries using country-specific information. The countries are organized in different world regions for illustration purposes. Emissions of some small countries are presented together with other countries depending on country definition and availability of activity statistics. Source: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC)/PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency.

Emissions are calculated for the following substances: 1) Direct greenhouse gases: Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Methane (CH4), Nitrous Oxide (N2O), Hydrofluorocarbons (HFC-23, 32, 125, 134a, 143a, 152a, 227ea, 236fa, 245fa, 365mfc, 43-10-mee), Perfluorocarbons (PFCs: CF4, C2F6, C3F8, c-C4F8, C4F10, C5F12, C6F14, C7F16), Sulfur Hexafluoride (SF6), Nitrogen Trifluoride (NF3) and Sulfuryl Fluoride (SO2F2); 2) Ozone precursor gases: Carbon Monoxide (CO), Nitrogen Oxides (NOx), Non-Methane Volatile Organic Compounds (NMVOC) and Methane (CH4). 3) Acidifying gases: Ammonia (NH3), Nitrogen oxides (NOx) and Sulfur Dioxide (SO2). 4) Primary particulates: Fine Particulate Matter (PM10) - Carbonaceous speciation (BC , OC) is under progress. 5) Stratospheric Ozone Depleting Substances: Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC-11, 12, 113, 114, 115), Halons (1211, 1301, 2402), Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFC-22, 124, 141b, 142b), Carbon Tetrachloride (CCl4), Methyl Bromide (CH3Br) and Methyl Chloroform (CH3CCl2). Emissions (EM) for a country C are calculated for each compound x on an annual basis (y) and sector wise (for i sectors, multiplying on the one hand the country-specific activity data (AD), quantifying the human activity for each of the i sectors, with the mix of j technologies (TECH) for each sector i, and with their abatement percentage by one of the k end-of-pipe (EOP) measures for each technology j, and on the other hand the country-specific emission factor (EF) for each sector i and technology j with relative reduction (RED) of the uncontrolled emission by installed abatement measure k. Emissions in are calculated by individual countries using country-specific information. The countries are organized in different world regions for illustration purposes. Emissions of some small countries are presented together with other countries depending on country definition and availability of activity statistics.