Being “green” reflects how much a country cares about preserving and restoring the natural environment and its resources, as well as the health of its citizens. This is shown through policymaking and the effectiveness of current measures.
However, as we’ll see, some countries prioritise the environment more than others.
We've conducted a comprehensive study analysing the most and least green countries globally. We combined and compared 4 different reports, namely the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) from Yale University, a report from the EU's Joint Research Centre (JRC), the Green Future Index (GFI) from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and the IQ Air information platform.
European countries dominate the top 10 list.
Previously, one small nation in Central America was making its mark. Costa Rica was the 7th greenest country based on our analysis. However, it now ranks 15th under Latin America & Caribbean and 68th in global score based on EPI.
This updated analysis of the world's greenest countries incorporates the latest data.
We also compared these results with people's perceptions of the greenest countries. And the deviation in results is quite intriguing.
Top 10 Greenest Countries
According to the latest rankings, Denmark has emerged as the greenest country globally, thanks to its robust environmental policies and commitment to renewable energy. Following closely are the United Kingdom and Finland, both known for their sustainable practices and high environmental standards.
The top 10 greenest countries are as follows:
1) Sweden
Coming in at first place is Sweden. Sweden ranks highly across the studies, coming in 5th place on the EPI, 9th for the GFI, and 4th for the lowest annual average PM2.5 concentration at 6.6 μg/m³.
However, like most European countries Sweden’s main downfall is its CO2 emissions per capita, ranking only 28th place with 4.18 tonnes (4th in Europe). Known for its innovation in renewable energy, Sweden has an EPI score of 72.7, highlighting its effective environmental policies.
Some of Sweden’s highlights are that it has a perfect score in the EPI for protecting marine ecosystems and it ranks second in the GFI’s CO2 emissions growth in transport sector indicator.
2) Denmark
Denmark is considered to be a pioneer in promoting sustainability, so it is no surprise that it ranks so highly. It has an impressive ranking on both the EPI and the GFI, 1st and 2nd place respectively.
However, it does rank relatively lower in terms of its CO2 emissions per capita and annual average PM2.5 concentration. At 31st place with 4.43 tonnes for the former and at 16th place with 9.6 μg/m³for the latter.
One of Denmark’s highlights is that it comes out on top for the EPI’s wastewater treatment indicator. Which means 100% of its population is connected to a sewer system and 100% of its household wastewater is treated.
3) United Kingdom
Despite its history the UK has been making headway in recent years as it aims to meet its net zero target by 2050. Ranking 2nd for the EPI and 4th for the GFI, it is clear that the UK is determined to make a greener future a reality.
Following closely with an EPI score of 77.7, the UK excels in ecosystem vitality and climate change mitigation despite its industrialized status. However, it still has some work to do in regards to its CO2 emissions and annual average PM2.5 concentration. It ranks in 34th place with 4.66 tonnes for the former and in 13th place with 8.8 μg/m³ for the latter.
The UK performs particularly well for climate policy, ranking 3rd in the GFI and 2nd in the EPI for this category.
4) Finland
Finland ranks 3rd on the EPI and 6th on the GFI. In particular, Finland excels in the GFI’s Clean Innovation pillar, ranking first. Furthermore, it achieves first place for the lowest annual average PM2.5 concentration with 5.5 μg/m³.
Out of the four studies, Finland mainly needs to focus on reducing its CO2 emissions, as it ranks 45th place with 7.29 tonnes per capita. The nation is already implementing change and plans to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels by 50% by 2030.
5) Switzerland
Switzerland placed 9th on the EPI and 14th on the GFI. It scores relatively lower for its CO2 emissions per capita and annual average PM2.5 concentration. Ranking 27th with 4.07 tonnes and 20th with 10.8 μg/m³, respectively.
Switzerland has a perfect score for both the EPI’s sanitation and drinking water indicators, meaning it has among the lowest DALY rates (age-standardised disability-adjusted life-years lost per 100,000 persons) in the world. The country's goal to achieve 100% renewable energy by 2050 is a testament to its forward-thinking approach.
6) France
Next on the list is France, which ranks 12th on the EPI and 7th on the GFI. This nation produces 4.26 tonnes of CO2 emissions per capita, meaning it comes in at 29th. Furthermore, France has an annual average PM2.5 concentration of 11.4 μg/m³, making it 23rd on the list.
In 2015, France became an early adopter of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. Therefore, it’s understandable why it ranks 4th place for the GFI’s Climate Policy pillar.
7) Costa Rica
Costa Rica, the first non-European country on the list, is a true front-runner when it comes to creating a more sustainable future. It comes in 8th place for the lowest annual average PM2.5 concentrations with 7.8 μg/m³. Furthermore, it ranks 12th with 1.55 tonnes in regards to CO2 emissions per capita and 20th in the GFI.
However, out of the 180 nations assessed in the EPI, Costa Rica only places 68th. Despite this, the EPI still gave Costa Rica a perfect score for SO2 growth rate, meaning it’s cutting emissions by ≥3.94% per year.
8) Iceland
Iceland is considered to be the top nation by the GFI and ranks in 10th place in the EPI. It also has a low annual average PM2.5 concentration of 6.1 μg/m³, ranking 3rd place.
However, Iceland’s CO2 emissions per capita have room for improvement as it ranks 56th with 9.23 tonnes. The government plans to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040 and be fossil-fuel-free by 2050, so we should see Iceland moving up the rankings in the coming years.
9) Norway
Norway ranks 20th on the EPI and 5th on the GFI. According to the GFI, it is leading in the area of Green Transport. Norway has an annual average PM2.5 concentration of 7.5 μg/m³ and 7.74 tonnes of CO2 emissions per capita, making it rank in 7th and 49th place respectively.
In order to become even greener, Norway plans to reduce 90-95% of its greenhouse gas emissions(excluding sinks) from 1990 levels by 2050.
10) Ireland
Ireland comes in 24th place on the EPI and 12th on the GFI. A highlight being that it ranks 3rd on the GFI’s Green Society pillar. Furthermore, Ireland ranks 9th for the lowest annual average PM2.5 concentrations with 8 μg/m³.
However, Ireland only ranks 41st in CO2 emissions per capita, with 6.68 tonnes. To address this, the government has created a Climate Action Plan which commits Ireland to reach net zero no later than 2050.
Again, this is confirmed by the Sustainable Development Report, which assesses Kuwait to have significant and major challenges remaining across goals 7, 11, and 13.
Do people’s perceptions match the results?
Interestingly enough, people’s perceptions of how environmentally friendly and sustainable various countries are is generally in agreement with our final ranking.
A survey conducted by InterNations in 2020 found similar results. They surveyed 15,000 expats who represented 173 nationalities and lived in 181 countries or territories.
In the survey they rated their personal satisfaction on the following topics: air quality, the natural environment, water and sanitation, the availability of green goods and services, energy supply, and the local waste management and recycling infrastructure.
They also rated how strongly they thought the governments support policies to protect the environment and how interested they perceived the local population to be concerning environmental issues.
InterNations included 60 countries in their final ranking. Fifty-one of these countries were included in both our final ranking as well as InterNations’. Therefore, InterNations’ top 10 is as follows:
- Finland
- Sweden
- Norway
- Austria
- Switzerland
- Denmark
- New Zealand
- Germany
- Canada
- Luxembourg
As you can see, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Austria, Switzerland, and Denmark are also included in our final top 10 greenest countries. Germany, New Zealand, and Luxembourg place in our top 20, and Canada places above the 50th percentile. It should also be noted that Iceland was not included in InterNations’ survey.
Information taken from report generated by GreenMatch - full report can be found here:
https://www.greenmatch.co.uk/blog/greenest-countries
