...the strong performer

Philippine Environmental Policies' Strong Performance

March 21, 2012

Manila Bulletin

Editorial

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is ranked as a “strong performer” in environmental policies in the latest biennial Environmental Performance Index (EPI). The Philippines was ranked 42nd among 132 countries under the "strong performer" category in 2012. It retained its ranking of 8th in the Asia-Pacific Region. It gained perfect scores in the indicators for outdoor air pollution, change in forest cover, and growing stocks in forests.

The government attributes the country’s strong performance to several factors, among them, intensified regulatory efforts, issuance of Executive Orders 23 and 26 dealing with forest protection, more stringent motor vehicle emission standards, tighter monitoring of private emission testing and vehicle inspection centers, and better enforcement of laws against smoke belching.

The EPI ranked 132 countries on 22 performance indicators across 10 policy categories under two policy objectives – Environmental Health and Ecosystem Vitality. These indicators gauge how close countries are to achieving environmental policy goals. A higher EPI rank, such as “strong” indicates that a country or region is close to achieving its established goals in environmental policy.

The EPI, developed by the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy of Yale University and the Center for International Earth Science Information Network of Columbia University, in collaboration with the World Economic Forum and the Joint Research Center of the European Commission, analyzes how the global community is doing on policy issues against environmental pressures, and steers countries toward environmental sustainability. The index, designed to supplement the environment targets set forth in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, is being used as benchmark by governments, policy and decision makers, environmental scientists, advocates and the general public. For 2012, the EPI’s “strongest” performers that ranked first to 10th are Switzerland, followed by Latvia, Norway, Luxembourg, Costa Rica, France, Austria, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Sweden.

Government, the private sector, and civil society continue to exert efforts for cleaner air in Metro Manila and other urban centers of the country, and to fully implement the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act. Local government units assist by stepping up their anti-smoke belching campaigns and strict implementation of emission tests prior to vehicle registration to help the national government succeed in its goal of a pollution-free environment. CONGRATULATIONS!