NZ Leads the World in Environmental Performance: Study

NZ leads the world in environmental performance: study

WELLINGTON, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) — An international report rating New Zealand as leading the world in environmental performance vindicates the government’s directions, according to a international study.

Local media NZPA said Tuesday that 2006 Environmental Environment Index, a pilot nation-by-nation study jointly produced by Yale and Columbia Universities, showed that just six nations – led by New Zealand, followed by five from Northern Europe – have achieved 85 percent or better success in meeting critical environment goals ranging from low ozone levels, to clean drinking water, low greenhouse gas emissions and sustainable fisheries.

The study will be formally issued during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, later this week.

Using a new variant of the methodology the two universities have applied in their Environmental Sustainability Index, produced in four previous years, the study was intended to focus more attention on how various governments have played the environmental hands they have been dealt.

In the 2005 report, Finland, Norway, Uruguay, Sweden, Iceland and Canada occupied the top six spots, with Australia 13th and New Zealand rated 14th.