India, July 30 -- Experts have called India's ranking in Yale University's latest global Environmental Performance Index (EPI) as a wake-up call that cannot be ignored any longer.

The ranking released recently by Yale has put India in 176th position; second lowest after Laos among 177 countries assessed in the analysis. India scored 22.46 per cent in EPI while Estonia with 74.79 per cent topped the global list.

The comprehensive ranking, that was initiated in 2000 and considered 47 indicators linked to 12 issues for the 2026 EPI assessment, has found India to be sliding overall over the last decade.

India fell from 141st spot in 2016 to 177th in 2018 to 168th in 2020 to 180th - lowest within all countries - in 2022. The country was ran...