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Al-Omair lauds Kuwait's leap on '14 Environment Index

Minister of Oil and State Minister for National Assembly Affairs Dr. Ali Al-Omair
Minister of Oil and State Minister for National Assembly Affairs Dr. Ali Al-Omair
KUWAIT, Sep 1 (KUNA) -- Minister of Oil and State Minister for National Assembly Affairs Dr. Ali Al-Omair on Monday commended the significant improvement Kuwait had achieved on the 2014 Environmental Performance Index (EPI), moving up from rank 126 to 42, among total 178 countries.
The EPI is a joint project between the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy and the Center for International Earth Science Information Network at Columbia University.
At the Arab level, Kuwait came third after the UAE that ranked 25, Saudi Arabia which ranked 35, and Qatar 44, Al-Omair said, attributing the country's "distinguished rank -- to the efforts exerted by the Environment Public Authority (EPA) over the past period in cooperation with specialized bodies and civil society institutions, to convey the real image to the bodies overseeing the EPI classification, through a scientific and systematic method." Kuwait's ranking coincides with the approval of the environment law, revealing the government hard work for the protection of the environment in all sectors, the Minister added.
Kuwait ranked 123 among 163 countries in 2010, then 126 among 132 states covered by the 2012 EPI.
Al-Omair referred the achievement to the policies adopted by the EPA and the non-stop follow-up on the side of the Supreme Council of Environment which closely monitors environmental issues and works on finding solutions.
The improvement of the government environment policy was a major reason for the 2014 EPI in 201.
The EPI report stated that the Environmental Monitoring Information System of Kuwait (eMISK) set up by the government as a part of the development plan offers a distinguished model of the application practices of monitoring environment data, Al-Omair said.
He expected better environment performance by Kuwait over the coming two years after the approval of the new law, to be reviewed by the Supreme Council of Environment by the end of the month, among other issues. (end) hrz.hb.msa