Japan rose to 16th place in the 2026 Environmental Performance Index (EPI), which assessed 177 countries. European countries continued to dominate the top ranks, while countries in the Global South tended to remain at the bottom. The data are based primarily on information through 2024.
The 2026 Environmental Performance Index assesses the environmental measures and conservation policies of 177 countries based on 47 indicators and 3 policy objectives. The assessment is divided into three categories: environmental health, ecosystem vitality and climate change policy. Each indicator also includes its rate of change over the past 10 years.
European countries occupy the top positions in the rankings, while Japan ranked 16th, behind the European countries. Estonia ranked 1st, followed by Luxembourg in 2nd, and then the United Kingdom, Finland, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Norway, Sweden and Austria. The United States ranked 27th and China 129th.
Japan's strengths include low levels of lead exposure and air pollutants, a high rate of marine habitat conservation, and the safe treatment of domestic wastewater. Its challenges are concentrated in agriculture-related areas. Excessive phosphorus use ranked 164th, while biodiversity risks from pesticide pollution ranked 155th, both poor results. Over the past 10 years, Japan ranked 153rd for species extinction risk, while forest cover loss showed a change of -4.13 over the same period.
Progress on many challenges, including those facing Japan, has slowed, prompting calls for new policies to achieve net zero by 2050. Tracking of indicators using AI is also advancing, helping to capture new indicators such as grassland conservation. At the same time, some have pointed out that the latest developments, including the conflict in Ukraine and the rapid increase in data centers, are not sufficiently reflected in the rankings.