A proposal for a Composite Index of Environmental Performance (CIEP) for countries

The need to determine the environmental impact caused by economic and human activities has induced a constant search for robust and effective tools that provide useful information for the design of public policies aiming to improve citizens’ quality of life. This paper develops a Composite Index of Environmental Performance (CIEP) from the Driving Force–Pressure–State–Exposure–Effect–Action (DPSEEA) methodology proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO). The CIEP allows us to determine the negative impacts that the driving forces have on the environment and the supposed pressure effect on the natural state of the available resources, which cause harmful effects on human health. In addition, we observe that actions and socio-environmental policies reduce the environmental impact and the mortality rate, while increasing the life expectancy. In relation to the selected indicators, it is realized that richer countries tend to have a better environmental quality and the population growth and density are factors that increase the driving force, which reduces the environmental quality of the countries.