Ireland 21st in environmental sustainability index

Ireland has been ranked 21st out of 146 countries in an environmental sustainability index drawn up by experts the universities of Yale and Columbia in the United States.

Finland, Norway, Uruguay, Sweden and Iceland made up the top five in the rankings, while the United States was ranked 45th and the United Kingdom 66th.

The lowest-ranked countries were North Korea, Iraq, Taiwan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

The rankings, which were drawn up for the World Economic Forum, are based on individual countries' efforts to reduce pollution and improve policies on environmental sustainability.

Friends of the Irish Environment has claimed that Ireland's high ranking was based on "issues like basic human sustenance, education and governance" and masked a deterioration in air quality, land use, waste management and greenhouse gas emissions in recent years.