Why Is Liberia Bottom of the EPI?

Researchers from Yale and Columbia universities have once again released their Environmental Performance Index (EPI), which ranks 180 countries on a variety of sustainability criteria. Propping up the bottom of the table is the West African nation of Liberia, whose lowly score of just 22.6 is nearly four times lower than that of EPI leaders Denmark and a full 2.5 points off their closest rival Myanmar.

The motive behind the publication of the EPI is not so much to shame struggling nations like Liberia, but rather to provide them with an external appraisal of the environmental measures (or lack thereof) they have put in place to date. It also provides an opportunity for them to learn from the top performers and potentially implement similar initiatives in their own country to improve their EPI ranking in the future. But where exactly has Liberia gone so wrong?

Political instability

Perhaps the chief reason for Liberia’s poor environmental performance is the political upheaval that it has witnessed over the past three decades. The civil war of 1989 to 2003 all but destroyed the government’s ability to provide reliable sources of power for its populace and today, it has one of the lowest access rates to electricity of anywhere in the world at just 2%.

Crucially, the Mt Coffee hydropower plant was obliterated during the conflict. Prior to its outbreak, the plant had produced as much as a third of the country’s power but in its absence, hotels, restaurants, other small businesses and even individual households are forced to provide their own sources of electricity, which invariably are fuelled by polluting means such as oil, coal and gas. Indeed, fossil fuels comprise 99.14% of the nation’s energy mix today.

Lack of regulation

As well as being rocked by the fallout from the civil war, the governance in Liberia has been lacking when it comes to environmental objectives. Of course, it could be argued that the country has more immediate priorities at the present time, given that it is incapable of providing the basic infrastructure to light and heat the homes of the vast majority of its people.

Still, the fact that many African nations have no directives or regulations in place like the Large Combustion Plant BREF in the EU means that the industrial activities practiced in their country lack oversight. This leads to corners being cut and responsibilities being shirked, with the environment suffering as a consequence. For Liberia to improve its EPI score going forward, it must learn from the examples of others and draw upon their blueprints to effect top-down change.

Poor performance across the board

Both of the two previous factors add up to one thing: abysmal EPI ratings in almost every category. It’s one thing to compare its performance with industry leaders like Denmark, but even when set against its peers in terms of size, GDP and regulatory quality, it is noticeably worse off. Comparable countries like Malawi, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo all record scores at least 10 points above Liberia’s.

The backsliding in the last decade is particularly notable in some areas. Higher carbon emissions have contributed to poorer air quality than in 2010, while significant tree cover loss has impacted negatively on species habitat conservation. As such, Liberia has its work out for it if it is to improve upon its EPI score in two years’ time – but perhaps the only way is up from here.