PUTRAJAYA, Jan 31 (Bernama) -- Malaysia was top among Asean countries on the
Environmental Performance Index (EPI) for 2011 released by the World Economic
Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Douglas Uggah Embas
said among 132 countries in the world, Malaysia was ranked 25th.
"Malaysia was also in third spot in the Asia-Pacific region behind New
Zealand and Japan," he said in a media statement today.
The EPI which was developed by experts from Yale University and Columbia
University measures a country''s sustainability level through environmental
health and strong, healthy ecosystems.
Malaysia is also in the high-performance group on the EPI together with
Germany, Iceland, Finland, Denmark, Japan and Belgium.
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EPI-BEST 2 (LAST) KUALA LUMPUR
In 2010, Malaysia was ranked 54th among 261 countries compared to Singapore
at 28th, but the island republic dropped to 52nd on the latest index.
Uggah said the ministry was now adapting the international EPI to develop
the model for Malaysia, and the work was being headed by Malaysia Environmental
Council chairman Prof Datuk Zaini Ujang of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.
"Malaysia''s achievement on the EPI this time has been due to various
initiatives and new policies mooted by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak
who emphasises on sustainability in the New Economic Model," he said.
Malaysia notched encouraging scores in the aspects of air management and its
impact on human health (97.3 per cent), agriculture (95.5) and biodiversity and
habitat (90.1).
Other aspects like climate change, fishery, forestry, and water and air
pollution were also evaluated.
-- BERNAMA
SLR RV MO
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