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Lumping different countries together -- why the 2008 EPI is of limited use
Date:2/29/2008

he weighting of individual aspects within the EPI.

For Augustin Berghfer, one of the analysts at the UFZ, it comes as no surprise that many top places in the EPI ranking were taken by wealthy industrialised countries: "The high weighting that the EPI gives to issues of environmental health, favours all countries that have the financial means for a sound health system, adequate sanitation and safe drinking water. The sensitivity analysis in the EPI report shows that different indicator weightings produce entirely different country rankings." This somewhat questions the claim in the EPI press release of 23 January 2008 which states that wealth is a major determinant of environmental success.

Another difficulty is the legitimacy of the targets set for each indicator. The EPI employs a distance-to-target method which requires explicit target values, against which the countries are measured. According to the EPI 2008 report, only 5 out of 25 target values have been set in international agreements or guidelines, all others represent expert judgement taken from scientific literature. Berghfer says, "the EPI lacks crucial legitimacy as an instrument for benchmarking. Why should governments measure themselves against target values which they may not even have heard of so far"" Nor do these target values visibly represent consensus within academia. Consider the State of the Environment Report of the EEA as an alternative example: Target values are only used where agreed upon by all governments, and the EEA scorecard was developed and agreed upon in a multi-year consultation process.

In general, the EPI can provide valuable information on the need for action in different environmental policy areas for countries that do not have country specific monitoring systems. Within the European Union however, there are more legitimate and better adapted instruments for this purpose.

On 23 January 2008 a consortium led by Yale University presented a new version
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Contact: Tilo Arnhold
presse@ufz.de
49-341-235-1635
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
Source:Eurekalert  

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