Harnessing advances in data, science, and technology, the 2026 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) provides a comprehensive assessment of sustainability worldwide. The 2026 EPI ranks 177 countries on 47 indicators across 12 issue categories spanning three policy objectives: Environmental Health, Ecosystem Vitality, and Climate Change. These indicators provide a gauge at a national scale of how close countries are to established environmental policy targets. The EPI offers a scorecard that highlights leaders and laggards in environmental performance and provides practical guidance for countries that aspire to move toward a sustainable future.
EPI indicators provide a way to spot problems, set targets, track trends, understand outcomes, and identify best policy practices. Going beyond the aggregate scores and drilling down into the data to analyze performance by issue category, policy objective, peer group, and country offers even greater value for policymakers. This granular view and comparative perspective can assist in understanding the determinants of environmental progress and in refining policy choices.