Environmental Policy: Performance Evaluation Practices and Sustainable Development Goals

Abstract

This environmental policy review falls within the framework of the UN-approved Sustainable Development Goals for 2030. The practice of outlining goals for the future has shed light on the issue of evaluating the world’s environmental sustainability. The demand for this evaluation has been met by the Environmental Performance Index, developed by a large group of foreign researchers. The Index allows to rate countries in terms of the two following major factors: a) environmental health concerns; and b) ecosystem resilience. Thus, we now have the opportunity to evaluate and draw global comparisons of various national environmental efforts in terms of efficiency. The Index has become essential for meeting the Sustainable Development Goals, as it allows tracing the progress of environmental efforts under this program, identifying weak points, and plotting the course for policy-makers. This is especially relevant for Russia, where the practical aspect of protecting the environment used to be neglected for quite a long time. Over the past few years, the Russian government has started paying more attention to the environment. Russia possesses truly unique capabilities that will help achieve sustainable development, but these capabilities have not yet been utilized in full. The current international relations have done little to improve the situation. In a more general sense, sustainable development implies looking for constructive ways of resolving global issues.

Keywords

• ecology
• environmental policy
• environmental performance index
• sustainable development
• development goals