Iceland a top performer in environmental issues
 |
|
Steingrímsstöd Station: An example of |
Iceland leads the world in addressing pollution control and natural resource management and is therefore at the top of the list of high performers in environmental issues, states the report that the U.S. universities Yale and Columbia recently issued. The report is issued every two years.
A press release from the universities states that Iceland scores highly in “environmental public health”, has low levels of greenhouse gas pollution and uses sustainable energy, both hydropower and geothermal power. Reforestation is also considered a praiseworthy aspect in Icelandic environmental matters.
In the comparison between countries, Iceland achieved 93.5 points out of 100. According to a Director at Yale, countries that take environmental issues seriously in their policy formulation have climbed up the list between years. As an example, Costa Rica is quite high up on the list due to efforts to conserve its rain forest, as is Columbia due to its success in developing a fuel-efficient mass transit system.
The New York Times reported on the list and pointed out that the data on which it is based comes from the countries themselves and could, therefore, be unreliable. The fact that Cuba is in ninth place on the list could be an indication of such unreliability. The U.S. ranks 61st on the list (was previously in 39th place) and China 121st (was in 105th place). Denmark is in 32nd place.
The report may be viewed on the website of Yale University >>
The article in New York Times >>