30 Least Polluted Countries in the World

Ramish Cheema
9 min read

In this piece, we will take a look at the 30 least polluted countries in the world. For more countries, head on over to 5 Least Polluted Countries in the World.

If there's one thing that can be said with certainty, it's that humanity has massively progressed over the past century. Whether it's ferrying people over the skies or churning out countless products daily through factories, the modern day world would appear nothing short of science fiction to someone who was alive during the turn of the 20th century.

However, much of this progress has come at a cost. Global emissions have grown considerably alongside this progression. Data from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shows that since 1900, global emissions have grown by more than ten times. Stunningly, while between 1900 to 1970 carbon dioxide emissions grew from 500 million metric tons to roughly 3.2 billion metric tons, the true increase took place between 1970 to 2014 as the emissions stood at nearly ten billion tons. In short, seven billion of the ten billion growth in global carbon dioxide emissions took place in the four and a half decades that ended in 2014. If you're interested to find out more about global emissions by country, you can check out 20 Countries That Produce the Most Greenhouse Gases.

These changes are starting to make their mark on the global climate as well. Data from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) shows that global temperature has increased by 1.1 degrees Celsius since the pre-industrial era and the sea level has risen by four inches since 1993. Delving deeper into the details, while a 1.1 degree rise in temperature might not appear to be much on the surface, 1970 appears to be a crucial point in human history as NASA's data shows that since then, annual temperature increases have followed a near consistent trajectory. The latest data shows that the temperature grew by 0.9 degrees in 2022, dipping slightly from 1.02 Celsius in 2020.

So, the next question to ask is, what is the cost of these changes, and what is required to combat them? Well, on this front, investment bank Morgan Stanley believes that not only has climate change cost the world hundreds of billions of dollars, but that America has borne the brunt of the impact. Its data shows that between 2015 to 2018, the global economy lost $650 billion due to climate related disasters, with North America alone accounting for $415 billion of the losses. Building on this, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development believes that to limit global temperature increases, the world requires a whopping $6.9 trillion in annual investment in infrastructure until 2030. It adds that to limit global warming, carbon dioxide emissions have to drop by 45% over 2010 levels by 2030 and that few countries have submitted their long term low emissions strategies.

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