INDICATOR SPECIFIC HIGHLIGHTS
01. Dramatic progress is possible when
measurement and management practices align. Since 1990 more than two billion people have gained access to improved drinking water and proper sanitation, exceeding MDG targets and improving global well-being. In Afghanistan alone, the percentage of households with access to clean drinking water went from 5 percent in 1991 to 61 percent in 2011. Ethiopia has also been able to connect more of its villages to safe drinking water through investments from the national government and international aid organizations. These great successes resulted from a well-organized measurement system that allowed policymakers to track their performance, identify priority needs, and create mechanisms to maintain accountability. There has been similar success in the protection of natural habitats. Well-organized data systems and clearly established targets have led to widespread increases in protected areas, like Mount Cameroon National Park in Cameroon. Cameroon’s government established the park in 2009 because data showed the area is home to some of the most threatened mammal species in the world. Likewise, Peru is one of the few countries to carefully analyze its territory to identify areas where critically threatened or endangered species exist These results demonstrate that targeted, data-driven investments do deliver progress.
02. When measurement is poor or
not aligned with proper management, natural and human systems suffer. The EPI documents that weak measurement systems give rise to poor outcomes. For
05 2014 EPI
misreport or fail to report catch data, and international policy targets are ad hoc and incomplete. It is no surprise that decline. Despite all the media attention it gets, air quality measurement capabilities are weak and poorly coordinated with management. International policy targets are largely absent, and the world has observed policy stagnation and alarming air pollution crises in a growing number of cities. With the expansion of industry, fossil fuel-based transportation sectors, and increasing urbanization in the developing world, the number of people breathing unsafe air has risen by 606 million since 2000, now totaling 1.78 billion. On the other hand, the number of people lacking access to clean drinking water has decreased from 1.04 billion in 2000 to 759 million in 2011. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given high urbanization, industrialization, and population growth, populations in China and India have the highest average in the world.
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03. Countries of varying economic
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development have divergent climate emissions trajectories; these warrant different policy priorities. Wealthy countries produce the highest levels of climate emissions, but have, for the most part, been successful in reducing the carbon intensity of economic growth over the last decade. Denmark, for example, has made strong policy commitments to reduce emissions through increasing income countries, such as Brazil, India, and China, are still growing economically