Environmental Performance Index 2024: A Closer Look at Viet Nam’s ranking
The Environmental Performance Index (EPI) is a metric developed by researchers at Yale University and Columbia University in collaboration with the World Economic Forum and updated every two years. It is designed to assess and rank 180 countries’ environmental performance, environmental health and ecosystem vitality to provide a gauge at a national scale of how close countries are to established environmental policy targets. In 2024 Viet Nam is ranked last among the 180 countries, down from 141 in just 2020.
Vietnam’s low ranking serves as another wake-up call. It underscores the urgent need for comprehensive responses to address these challenges. That balancing economic growth with environmental protection is essential for Vietnam’s long-term prosperity is not news. But apart from the overall ranking looking at the the different sub-categories can provide insights into problem areas but also shows where things are going relatively well.
While the 2024 ranking is data driven and of concern, the specific choice of indicators might also contribute to the low ranking and arguably not represent a comprehensive assessment of Viet Nam’s relative position. In the area of climate change mitigation e.g., many indicators are based on the growth rate of emissions between 2013 and 2022, so that Viet Nam with its rapidly growing emissions lands at the end while European countries on the top, despite still having substantially higher per capita GHG emissions. Likewise, the score for the 2050 emissions indicator is based on an extrapolation of past emissions so that Viet Nam lands on the last place despite the highly ambitious 2050 net zero GHG emission target.
Air Pollution: Rapid industrialisation, urbanisation, and a growing number of vehicles have led to increased air pollution in urban areas. High levels of particulate matter and pollutants like nitrogen dioxide pose significant risks to public health. Indeed, in recent years, air pollution in Hanoi and northern cities reached unprecedented hazardous levels, with an index of 151-200 (SGGP, 2023). High levels of particulate matter and pollutants like nitrogen dioxide combined with weather changes have negatively impacted public health and created a breeding ground for diseases. Major hospitals in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have seen a significant increase in patients seeking medical treatment on respiratory infections.
Biodiversity Loss: Viet Nam is one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots, but deforestation, habitat destruction, and illegal wildlife trade have resulted in the loss of many species. In details, 21% of mammals, 6.5% of birds, 19% of reptiles, 24% of amphibians, 38% of fish, and 2.5% of plants are listed as threatened (WWF, 2021). The live coral cover of coral reefs is declining rapidly, and the area of seagrass has decreased by 45.4% with an annual reduction rate of 4.4% (ISPONRE, 2021).

Reference:
SGGP (2023). Air pollution in Vietnam exceeds red-warning level | SGGP English Edition
Block, S., Emerson, J. W., Esty, D. C., de Sherbinin, A., Wendling, Z. A., et al. (2024). 2024 Environmental Performance Index. New Haven, CT: Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy. epi.yale.edu. EPI COVER 2024_FULL REPORT (yale.edu)
World Wide Fund for Nature (2021): Report on Viet Nam biodiversity outlook: analyzing impacts from economic sectors to address biodiversity degradation. | WWF
Vietnam, a country with rich biodiversity | Nieuwsbericht | Agroberichten Buitenland
The Institute of Strategy and Policy on Natural Resources and Environment (2021). National Ecosystem Assessment Report Of Viet Nam (isponre.gov.vn)