The Environmental Performance Index (EPI) 2026, covering 177 countries across 47 indicators in 12 issue categories, ranked Estonia first with a score of 74.79, followed by Luxembourg and the United Kingdom.

India was ranked 176th with a score of 22.46, just above Laos, marking it among the lowest-performing countries in the index.

The EPI is compiled by Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy, Columbia University's CIESIN, and Yale Center for Geospatial Solutions, with McCall MacBain Foundation support.

India has previously disputed EPI methodology — after ranking 180th of 180 in the 2022 EPI, the Environment Ministry called the indicators assumption-based and unrepresentative of India's actual position.