◑ Switzerland ◑
Score: 95.5
No. 1 Overall; No. 1 in the E.U.
The world’s fifth most affluent nation on a GDP-per-capita basis is also the world’s cleanest.
Switzerland scores a perfect 100 in eight environmental indicators, including sanitation and water quality,
forest health and pesticide regulation. All that cleanliness translates into a life expectancy of 81 years for the Swiss.
But Switzerland’s mountainous landscape forces farmers to grow crops on every slope and in every cranny,
reducing the country to a merely average score in agricultural practices.
◑ Sweden ◑
Score: 93.1
No. 2 Overall (tie); No. 2 in the E.U. (tie)
Sweden scores strongly in most environmental areas that directly affect human health. The country has low levels of
airborne pollution, pristine drinking water and low per-capita emissions of greenhouse gasses. Nine million Swedes
also treat their forests with utmost care–the country earns a perfect score for forest management.
But they’re not nearly as careful offshore, earning a score of just 26 for slack protection of marine areas. continue reading…
