India has been ranked at a low 155th position in a global list that places countries on how well they perform on high-priority environmental issues.

The 2014 Environmental Performance Index (EPI), released today here, has ranked 178 countries in total. Among them, India is placed at the 155th position, with an index score of 31.23 points. Its rank is also much lower than BRICS peers.

Among the BRICS, South Africa was placed at the 72nd rank with an index score of 53.51, followed by Russia (73rd rank, 53.45 points), Brazil (77th rank, 52.97 points) and China (118th rank, 43 points).

Besides, India has fared poorly compared to neighbouring countries like Nepal and Pakistan — which are ranked 139th and 148th, respectively.

The overall list is topped by Switzerland followed by Luxembourg, Australia, Singapore, and Czech Republic.

“Emerging economies, including China, India, Brazil, Russia, and South Africa, have had modest improvement over the past decade, but they have also paid an environmental price for their rapid growth,” the report said. Urbanization without sufficient investment in environmental safeguards is a key reason for emerging economies’ poor showing when it comes to air quality, biodiversity and habitat protection.

The 178 nations in the index represent 99 per cent of the global population, 98 per cent of the world’s total land area, and 97 per cent of the global GDP, the report said.

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