The Best Environment in the World

International Living Postcards-- your daily escape

Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2007

Each year we consider every nation on earth on behalf of the would-be expatriate. This year our Quality of Life Index looks at 193 countries. For each country, we consider: Cost of Living, Culture and Leisure, Economy, Environment, Freedom, Health, Infrastructure, Safety and Risk, and Climate.

As I told you last week, the United States came fifth overall. But although the living may be good Stateside...it can be much better in many ways elsewhere...like in the four countries beating the U.S. to the top spots. I won't name them here, but I will say it wasn't a close call--these fantastic four comfortably beat the U.S.

I also told you that Italy gets a perfect score in Culture and Leisure…Ireland has the strongest Economy…Uruguay is the cheapest place you’d want to live…and Malta has the best climate.

Best environment? Brunei. No kidding, this tiny sultanate tops our Environment category every year.

Brunei is situated in Southeast Asia on the island of Borneo. To rate and rank a country’s environment we take into account population density and growth rate, carbon dioxide emissions, and the number and size of protected areas.

Brunei, ruled by the same family for more than six centuries, has 100 miles of coastline. Her citizens, with free education, free health care, free pensions, subsidized housing, and low taxes have one of the highest per capita disposable incomes in Asia. This well-to-do country benefits from extensive petroleum and natural gas fields.

On a trip up the Brunei River you’ll meet the bizarre-looking proboscis monkey, unique to Borneo. More than half the country remains pristine rainforest, which is lawfully protected, and outside the capital of Bandar Seri Begawan, the Ulu Tamburong National Park has the proboscis, other primates, and lots of other wildlife including huge monitor lizards.

According to the Asia-Pacific Centre for Environmental Law, Brunei, with its small population, does not yet suffer environmental pressures. The government undertook concerted pollution control efforts directed at effluent discharges from the capital and its suburbs, to avoid damage to the environment as the country embarks on urbanization and industrialization.

The oil industry is well regulated by the government and there are high standards of precaution to prevent environmental pollution arising from oil exploration and refining. The non-oil natural resources of Brunei are largely unexploited.

The coastal area contains Brunei’s most productive ecosystems. Mangroves, which cover 3.2% of total land area, are among the best preserved in Southeast Asia. These mangroves play a significant role as hatcheries and nurseries of marine life and form habitats for several species of plants and animals, some of which are unique and endangered. Much of the existing mangroves have been allocated for specific purposes like protected forest areas, water pond aquaculture (particularly for shrimp culture) and human settlement projects.

Laura Sheridan
Editor, IL's Quality of Life Index