Costa Rica made the top 20 in the first edition of the Index of Environmental and Social Development – Laudato Si.

Pope Francis’ encyclical “Laudato Si” was used to create a tool to measure and rank countries’ efforts in human and environmental development.

The investigation analyzed 127 countries, it was carried out by the Universidad Catolica in alliance with Viva Trus, Incae Business School and Progress Social Imperative, taking into account aspects such as the access to health and services, air quality, water, discrimination policies, among others; in other words, not just aspects and actions regarding the protection of the environment but related to human and social development.

The countries were given a score in comprehensive humanist ecology which is based in two dimensions, the common good (that considers basic needs and opportunities) and the care for the common home (which involves the performance and environmental balance in each country); in the case of Costa Rica the general score was of 77.35 while in each specific dimension it obtained scores of 82.33 and 72.37 respectively.

Finland took the first place in the ranking with a general score of 87.51; New Zealand (85.43); Australia (85.36); Sweden (85.30) and Canada (83.14), made up the top 5.

The importance of this ranking is that it provides an insight so each country can see how it is holding up to Laudato si’s parameters on caring for the environment.