9 May, 1:15-2:30pm
UN Headquarters – Conference Room 8

Yale University will launch its flagship Environmental Performance Index (EPI) report at United Nations Headquarters in New York City with a discussion event on Monday, 9 May 2016 from 1:15-2:30pm in Conference Room 8. This index ranks 180 countries on high-priority environmental issues including air quality, climate change, and water resources. Now in its 15th year, the EPI provides a scorecard and baseline to assess each country’s performance and inform progress on United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Climate Change Agreement.

Panelists

H.E. Mrs. Janine Coye Felson – Ambassador, Deputy Permanent Representative of Belize to the United Nations 

Mr. Elliott Harris – Assistant Secretary-General, Head of the New York Office of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP)

Ms. Kim Samuel – President of The Samuel Family Foundation and Professor of Practice at the Institute for Studies in International Development at McGill University. 

Dr. Angel Hsu – Assistant Professor at Yale-National University of Singapore (NUS) College; EPI Principal Investigator.

Bios for the speakers are available here.

The esteemed panelists will discuss how nations are performing on critical environmental issues – individually and collectively. What portion of the world breathes unsafe air? How many of the world’s fisheries have collapsed? Are countries protecting forests and biodiversity?

The event provides an opportunity for UN Member States, UN staff, civil society and others working to advance environmental policy and implement the SDGs to learn which environmental issues require the most attention and resources. Country representatives will have a chance to see a breakdown of their EPI scores, allowing them a better understanding of which national environmental policies are working and which are not.

About the EPI

The 2016 Environmental Performance Index is a project lead by the Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy (YCELP) and Yale Data-Driven Environmental Solutions Group at Yale University (Data-Driven Yale), the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) at Columbia University, in collaboration with the Samuel Family Foundation, McCall MacBain Foundation, and the World Economic Forum.