The Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI) measures the overall progress towards environmental sustainability.

It covers 142 countries and scores using a set of 20 core "indicators".

The ESI compares progress across nations and moves us toward a more analytically rigorous and data driven approach to environmental decision making.

The ESI shows that there is no relationship between a nation's economic status and its environmental success.

Finland ranks at the top because of its success in minimizing air and water pollution, its high institutional capacity to handle environmental problems, and its comparatively low levels of greenhouse gas emissions.

CIESIN Environmental Sustainability Index Ranking