Niti Aayog's SDG Index: States rank fair on environmental indicators, room for improvement

Government of India's premier think tank Niti Aayog has released its Sustainable Development Goals ranking of state and union territories. The SDG India Index 2019 ranked Kerala as the top performer while Bihar was adjudged as the worst performer. There are 17 Goals, 169 targets and 306 national indicators in Niti Aayog's SDG India Index 2019.

"Kerala retained its rank as the top state with a score of 70. Chandigarh too maintained its top spot among the UTs with a score of 70. Himachal Pradesh took the second spot while Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Telangana shared the third spot," the report said.

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India's overall rank at 60

According to the report, India's composite score improved from 57 in 2018 to 60 in 2019 with major success in water and sanitation, power and industry. However, nutrition and gender continue to be problem areas for the country, requiring a more focussed approach from the government. The report said while three out of five states in the top spots perform equal to or better than the country average on 12 goals, the other two states do the same on 11 goals.

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Rankings of states on environmental indicators

Among key environmental indicators are climate action, life below water and life on land. The Index ranks them in four categories – Achiever ( > 99) Front Runner (65 - 99) Performer (50 - 64) and Aspirant (0 - 49). Here are the top ranks:

Climate Action:

1. Karnataka – 71
2. Andhra Pradesh – 70
3. Odisha – 69

• India – 60

Life Below Water (coastal states only):

1. Karnataka – 65
2. Andhra Pradesh – 61
3. Odisha – 57

• India – N.A.

Life on Land:

1. Manipur – 100
2. Sikkim – 100
3. Goa – 99

• India – 66 (down from 90)

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What are SDGs?

The SDGs are an ambitious commitment by world nations which set out a universal and an unprecedented agenda that embraces economic, environmental and social aspects of the wellbeing of societies. India played a prominent role in the formulation of SDGs and much of the country’s National Development Agenda is mirrored in the SDGs. There are 17 Goals, 169 targets and 306 national indicators in Niti Aayog's SDG India Index 2019. The dashboard displays overall & detailed information on the progress made by States & UTs on goals set by the United Nations, including their incremental progress from 2018, using interactive visualizations. It is a joint initiative between Niti Aayog and the UN.

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