Environment performance index up Lebanon's rank is higher last year, but it lost three places in total Lebanon ranked 94 in a pool of 180 rated countries in the 2016 Environmental Performance Index (EPI), scoring a grade of 69.14. Regionally, it is positioned at rank nine out of the 19 countries rated in the MENA region, overall performing better than some of these countries. Although at higher score compared to 2014, it lost three places on the overall ranking, testifying to a slower progress on addressing environmental performance objectives. A number of changes and improvements have been introduced in the production of 2016 EPI invalidating any trend and progress analysis. The results are not a fully comprehensive picture of national performance, mainly due to data gaps for a number of key environmental issues, requiring Lebanon, among other countries, to improve its understanding of environmental quality on one end, and of its reporting capabilities to respond to its national and international obligations. The EPI highlights the country's performance on high priority issues in the areas of protection of human health and protection of ecosystems. These two objectives are further divided into nine issue categories that span high-priority environmental policy issues, including air quality, forests, fisheries, and climate and energy, among others.