Launch of 2008 Environmental Performance Index and Water

UNEP's GEMS/Water Programme would like to congratulate Yale and Colombia University for their 2008 Environmental Performance Index and Water this week at Davos World Economic Forum. GEMS/Water was Lead Science Advisor to developing the water quality components of the EPI.

The 2008 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) ranks 149 countries on 25 indicators tracked across six established policy categories: Environmental Health, Air Pollution, Water Resources, Biodiversity and Habitat, Productive Natural Resources, and Climate Change. The EPI identifies broadly-accepted targets for environmental performance and measures how close each country comes to these goals. As a quantitative gauge of pollution control and natural resource management results, the Index provides a powerful tool for improving policymaking and shifting environmental decision-making onto firmer analytic foundations.

GEMS/Water collaborated on the Water Pollution section of the EPI. The Effects on the Ecosystem indicators are described at http://epi.yale.edu/WaterEffectsOnEcosystem

The Water Quality indicator is a proximity-to-target composite of water quality, adjusted for monitoring stationsí density in each country, with the maximum score of 100. Data were available to compute indicator values for 94 countries. For countries where no values could be computed using available data, a regional imputed value was used. Water Quality was imputed for a total of 138 countries.

GEMS/Water is pleased to continue to work in the future with both Yale and Colombia University on further development of the EPI. For the EPI to be most effective, environmental water quality data and information are urgently needed to fill the gaps in GEMS/Waterís database GEMStat. National governments, water authorities, NGOs, and universities around the world can contribute to the success of indicator development by participating with UNEP's GEMS/Water Programme. GEMS/Water would like to highlight the valuable contributions made by our present National Focal Points and Collaborating Focal Points.

Information and documents related to the 2008 EPI are available at http://epi.yale.edu/Home.

What does GEMS/Water do?
Since its establishment in 1978, UNEP's Global Environmental Monitoring System (GEMS) Water Programme has become the primary source for global environmental water quality data. It is a multi-faceted water science centre oriented towards knowledge development on inland quality issues throughout the world. Major activities include monitoring, assessment and capacity building.

The twin goals of the programme are to improve water quality monitoring and assessment capabilities in participating countries, and to determine the status and trends of regional and global water quality. These goals are implemented through the GEMS/Water data bank, at www.gemstat.org, including water quality data and information from more than 3,000 stations in 100 countries, with over four million entries for lakes, reservoirs, rivers and groundwater systems. By compiling a global database, GEMS/Water adds value to country-level data by contributing to global and regional water quality assessments.

Through its Quality Management System (QMS), UNEP's GEMS/Water Programme improves global water quality data by ensuring the comparability and validity of analyses performed by laboratories worldwide, and by encouraging and supporting data integrity at all levels.

The programme also carries out evaluations on a range of water quality issues and methodologies. GEMS/Water data have been used by other organizations, including the UN system and universities around the world.

For more information about GEMS/Water, please contact: Dr. Richard D. Robarts, Director, tel: +1-306-975-6047 fax: +1-306-975-5143 e-mail: richard.robarts@gemswater.org or visit www.gemswater.org and www.gemstat.org.