Place the following countries in order of their environmental efforts with country, 1 having the most environmental efforts in place. - CHINA - JAPAN - NORTH KOREA - SOUTH KOREA

One of the best ways of measuring the environmental efforts of a country is through the environmental laws and policies that it has enacted. One way to do this is to assess its Environment Performance Index (EPI). The EPI provides a methodology of quantifying and measuring numerically a country's environmental performance of its policies. This system was developed by Yale University and Columbia University in partnership with the World Economic Forum.

The 2018 EPI lists 180 countries on twenty-four performance indicators covering ten categories including environmental health and ecosystem vitality. The EPI provides a scorecard that features leaders and slowpokes in environmental performance. It also presents an insight into the best practices and offers guidance for other countries aspiring to be leaders in sustainability.

The 2018 EPI results, therefore, can be credibly used in ranking the following countries in terms of their environmental efforts, with 1 being the highest:

No. 1 Japan - Rank: 20

EPI current score = 74.69

No. 2 South Korea - Rank: 60

EPI current score = 62.30

No. 3 China - Rank: 120

EPI current score = 5.74

North Korea, however, is not included in the EPI list. The country may have already put in place environmental policies but information on these efforts is limited. There is information, though, that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) has been working with the Hanns Seidel Foundation in efforts to sustain and maintain the East-Asian Australasian Flyway, a route taken by migratory birds in East Asia.