• The UAE ranked top in the Middle East in the Environmental Performance Index 2022. Reuters
    The UAE ranked top in the Middle East in the Environmental Performance Index 2022. Reuters
  • Denmark ranked top globally in the Environmental Performance Index 2022. Alamy
    Denmark ranked top globally in the Environmental Performance Index 2022. Alamy
  • The UK took second spot. Alamy
    The UK took second spot. Alamy
  • Finland came third with a score of 76.5. Getty
    Finland came third with a score of 76.5. Getty
  • Malta took fourth spot after an improvement of more than 25 points over 10 years. PR Newswire
    Malta took fourth spot after an improvement of more than 25 points over 10 years. PR Newswire
  • Sweden rounded out the top five countries on the Environment Performance Index for 2022. Getty
    Sweden rounded out the top five countries on the Environment Performance Index for 2022. Getty

Index puts UAE top in the Middle East for environmental performance


Daniel Bardsley
  • English
  • Arabic

The UAE has been listed as the top Middle Eastern nation in the Environmental Performance Index published by Yale and Columbia universities.

Ranking countries on environmental sustainability, the index puts the UAE in joint 39th place globally out of 180 nations, with Denmark topping the list and India coming last.

The index ranks countries on performance indicators that consider the health of their environment, how they enhance or damage ecosystems, and their efforts to combat climate change.

What it takes to be top

“High-scoring countries exhibit long-standing and continuing investments in policies that protect environmental health, preserve biodiversity and habitat, conserve natural resources, and decouple greenhouse gas emissions from economic growth,” the index report states.

The UAE’s overall score is 52.4 out of 100, which compares to 77.9 for Denmark and 18.9 for India, and places it first out of 16 countries from the “Greater Middle East”.

The score is a weighted average of 40 categories, and in five of these — marine protected areas, wetland loss, household solid fuels, black carbon growth rate and CO2 from land cover — the UAE achieves a maximum 100.

A high score of 80.3 is awarded for biodiversity, which averages performance across a range of categories, including some that look at how much of the country’s land habitats are in protected areas.

Worst performers

Low scores include just 11.7 for the marine trophic index (MTI), which means that, among the fish and other marine organisms caught, an increasing number are smaller species from lower down the food chain.

“If MTI decreases over time, this may be due to countries depleting stocks of higher level fish and resorting to lower level taxa, also known as ‘fishing down the food web’,” the EPI states in a briefing document.

The UAE’s worst score, 3.4, is for PM2.5 pollution, which indicates that the air contains high levels of particulate matter up to 2.5 micrometres in diameter.

Thought to increase the risk of cancer, heart disease and strokes, among other health effects, particulate matter in the UAE comes from sources including oil production and refining, traffic, mineral dust and shipping.

The UAE has in a past had a mixed performance in international environmental indices. The World Wide Fund For Nature’s Living Planet Report, for example, has several times ranked the UAE as having the highest per capita environmental footprint in the world. This is partly because the extreme climate leads to heavy use of air conditioning.

India is ranked worst on the environmental index. Here, a man stands next to a polluted portion of the river Yamuna in New Delhi. AFP
India is ranked worst on the environmental index. Here, a man stands next to a polluted portion of the river Yamuna in New Delhi. AFP

Also, the country’s rapid urbanisation has been shown to have had a harmful effect on some native wildlife, such as reptile species, while coastal development has affected coral reefs.

Efforts have been made, however, to promote coral growth by, for example, sinking along the coast rock barriers with coral species cultivated on them.

Around the region

Other countries listed in the EPI’s “Greater Middle East” region include Israel, in 57th place, Jordan, in joint 81st place, Kuwait, in joint 87th place, and Bahrain in 90th place.

Tunisia is ranked 96th, Saudi Arabia is 109th, Egypt is joint 127th, Iran is in 133rd position, Qatar comes 137th, Lebanon 142nd, Oman joint 149th, Algeria joint 155th, Morocco joint 160th, Iraq 169th and, in last place for the region, Sudan is in 171st place.

“Many bottom-tier countries face war and other sources of unrest as well as a lack of financial resources to invest in environmental infrastructure,” the report says.

It adds that “only a handful of countries”, including Denmark and the UK, which is ranked second overall, are set to achieve greenhouse gas neutrality by 2050, a key aim if temperature increases are to be kept within safe limits.

Many other nations, including large countries such as China, India and Russia are, the report says, “headed in the wrong direction”, with greenhouse gas emissions “rapidly rising”. India, in last place, is described as having “low scores across a range of critical issues”.

“Deteriorating air quality and rapidly rising greenhouse gas emissions pose especially urgent challenges,” the report summary says of India, which is expected to become the world’s most populous nation within the next decade.

Produced by the Yale Centre for Environmental Law and Policy at Yale University, and Columbia University’s Centre for International Earth Science Information Network, the Environmental Performance index is funded by the McCall MacBain Foundation and is published every two years.

Data comes from research institutions, academia, international organisations and government agencies, although generally data is not accepted directly from governments.

Timeline

1947
Ferrari’s road-car company is formed and its first badged car, the 125 S, rolls off the assembly line

1962
250 GTO is unveiled

1969
Fiat becomes a Ferrari shareholder, acquiring 50 per cent of the company

1972
The Fiorano circuit, Ferrari’s racetrack for development and testing, opens

1976
First automatic Ferrari, the 400 Automatic, is made

1987
F40 launched

1988
Enzo Ferrari dies; Fiat expands its stake in the company to 90 per cent

2002
The Enzo model is announced

2010
Ferrari World opens in Abu Dhabi

2011
First four-wheel drive Ferrari, the FF, is unveiled

2013
LaFerrari, the first Ferrari hybrid, arrives

2014
Fiat Chrysler announces the split of Ferrari from the parent company

2015
Ferrari launches on Wall Street

2017
812 Superfast unveiled; Ferrari celebrates its 70th anniversary

David Haye record

Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4

COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Switch%20Foods%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202022%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Edward%20Hamod%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Abu%20Dhabi%2C%20UAE%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Plant-based%20meat%20production%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2034%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%246.5%20million%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%20round%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Seed%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Based%20in%20US%20and%20across%20Middle%20East%3C%2Fp%3E%0A

Director: Laxman Utekar

Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna

Rating: 1/5

Trump v Khan

2016: Feud begins after Khan criticised Trump’s proposed Muslim travel ban to US

2017: Trump criticises Khan’s ‘no reason to be alarmed’ response to London Bridge terror attacks

2019: Trump calls Khan a “stone cold loser” before first state visit

2019: Trump tweets about “Khan’s Londonistan”, calling him “a national disgrace”

2022:  Khan’s office attributes rise in Islamophobic abuse against the major to hostility stoked during Trump’s presidency

July 2025 During a golfing trip to Scotland, Trump calls Khan “a nasty person”

Sept 2025 Trump blames Khan for London’s “stabbings and the dirt and the filth”.

Dec 2025 Trump suggests migrants got Khan elected, calls him a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor”

Where to buy and try:

Nutritional yeast

DesertCart

Organic Foods & Café

Bulletproof coffee

Wild & The Moon

Amasake

Comptoir 102

DesertCart

Organic Foods & Café

Charcoal drinks and dishes

Various juice bars, including Comptoir 102

Bridgewater Tavern

3 Fils

Jackfruit

Supermarkets across the UAE

Paatal Lok season two

Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy 

Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong

Rating: 4.5/5

Heavily-sugared soft drinks slip through the tax net

Some popular drinks with high levels of sugar and caffeine have slipped through the fizz drink tax loophole, as they are not carbonated or classed as an energy drink.

Arizona Iced Tea with lemon is one of those beverages, with one 240 millilitre serving offering up 23 grams of sugar - about six teaspoons.

A 680ml can of Arizona Iced Tea costs just Dh6.

Most sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, five teaspoons of sugar in a 500ml bottle.

Austrian Grand Prix race timings

Weekend schedule for Austrian Grand Prix - all timings UAE

Friday

Noon-1.30pm First practice

4-5.30pm Second practice

Saturday

1-2pm Final practice

4pm Qualifying

Sunday

4pm Austrian Grand Prix (71 laps)

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Coffee: black death or elixir of life?

It is among the greatest health debates of our time; splashed across newspapers with contradicting headlines - is coffee good for you or not?

Depending on what you read, it is either a cancer-causing, sleep-depriving, stomach ulcer-inducing black death or the secret to long life, cutting the chance of stroke, diabetes and cancer.

The latest research - a study of 8,412 people across the UK who each underwent an MRI heart scan - is intended to put to bed (caffeine allowing) conflicting reports of the pros and cons of consumption.

The study, funded by the British Heart Foundation, contradicted previous findings that it stiffens arteries, putting pressure on the heart and increasing the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke, leading to warnings to cut down.

Numerous studies have recognised the benefits of coffee in cutting oral and esophageal cancer, the risk of a stroke and cirrhosis of the liver. 

The benefits are often linked to biologically active compounds including caffeine, flavonoids, lignans, and other polyphenols, which benefit the body. These and othetr coffee compounds regulate genes involved in DNA repair, have anti-inflammatory properties and are associated with lower risk of insulin resistance, which is linked to type-2 diabetes.

But as doctors warn, too much of anything is inadvisable. The British Heart Foundation found the heaviest coffee drinkers in the study were most likely to be men who smoked and drank alcohol regularly.

Excessive amounts of coffee also unsettle the stomach causing or contributing to stomach ulcers. It also stains the teeth over time, hampers absorption of minerals and vitamins like zinc and iron.

It also raises blood pressure, which is largely problematic for people with existing conditions.

So the heaviest drinkers of the black stuff - some in the study had up to 25 cups per day - may want to rein it in.

Rory Reynolds

Updated: June 15, 2022, 5:52 AM