KOLKATA: West Bengal is showing the path to other states when it comes to sustainable development goals.
According to the State of India's Environment Report 2022 collated by the Centre for Science and Environment, Bengal has done exceedingly well in four key sectors.
Bengal has performed admirably well in Sustainable Development Goal 3 (Good Health & Well Being), ranking seventh with a score of 76, which is above the national average of 74.
The state's performance in SDG 3 has been distinguishably better compared to the past two years, with scores of 70 and 66 in 2020 and 2019,
respectively.
Bengal also bagged the crown in Sustainable Development Goal 7 (Affordable & Clean Energy) by scoring 98 and ranking second among all states. Similarly, in Sustainable Development Goal 12 (Responsible Consumption & Production), Bengal has ranked seventh with a score of 82.
The state now has time till 2030 to realise all its Sustainable Development Goals. While the state has improved its ranking to 11th from 13th in 2020, it has done way better in 2019 when it ranked
eighth.
The State of India's Environment Report was released by Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav at Rajasthan's Alwar on Tuesday.
These rankings are based on the performance of 28 states in 15 Sustainable Development Goals.
CSE director-general Sunita Narain said: "In the last two years, the world has seen disruption at a scale not seen before."
Narain added: "Both Covid-19 and climate change are the result of our 'dystopian' relationship with nature. We can call this the revenge of nature."