UNDP Resident Representative Shoko Noda said India’s drop in ranking does not mean that “India did not do well, but other countries did better.”
India fell two spots on the United Nations Human Development Index this year, ranking 131 out of 189 countries. However, if the Index were adjusted to assess planetary pressures caused by the development of each nation, India would rise eight places in the ranking, according to the report.
For the first time, the United Nations Development Program introduced a new metric to reflect the impact caused by each country’s per capita carbon emissions and its material footprint, which measures the amount of fossil fuels, metals and other resources used to manufacture the goods and services you consume. This paints a “less optimistic, but clearer assessment” of human progress, said Shoko Nada, the UNDP representative in India.
Read also | India ranks 129th in the 2019 Human Development Index
Norway, which leads the HDI, falls 15 places if this metric is used, leaving Ireland at the top of the table. In fact, 50 countries would fall completely out of the category of “very high human development group”, using this new metric, called HDI adjusted for planetary pressures or PHDI. Australia falls 72 places in the ranking, while the United States and Canada would fall 45 and 40 places respectively, reflecting their disproportionate impact on natural resources. The oil and gas-rich Gulf states also fell sharply. China would drop 16 places from its current ranking of 85.
China’s net emissions (8 gigatons) are 34% below its territorial emissions (12.5 gigatons) compared to 19% in India and 15% in sub-Saharan Africa.
“No country has been able to reach a very high level of development without exerting great pressure on natural resources. We have to be the first generation to get it right, ”said Ms. Nada. He praised India’s track record in achieving its carbon emission targets thus far and urged Indian policy makers to take the path of sustainable development.
Read also | India gained a decade of life expectancy since 1990, according to a Lancet study
The HDI itself is an assessment of a nation’s health, education, and standard of living. Although this year’s report covers only 2019 and does not take into account the impact of COVID, it projected that in 2020, the global HDI would fall below for the first time in the three decades since the Index was introduced.
PTI adds:
According to the report released by the United Nations Development Program on December 15, India’s per capita gross national income fell to $ 6,681 in 2019 from $ 6,829 in 2018 on the basis of purchasing power parity (PPP). ).
Purchasing Power Parity or PPP is a measure of prices in different countries that uses the prices of specific goods to compare the absolute purchasing power of countries’ currencies.
The report said that evidence from Colombia to India indicates that financial security and land ownership enhance women’s security and reduce the risk of gender-based violence, clearly indicating that owning land can empower women.
In addition, he said that indigenous children in Cambodia, India and Thailand show more problems related to malnutrition, such as stunting and wasting.
“In India, the different responses in parental behavior, as well as some disinvestment in girls’ health and education, have led to greater malnutrition among girls than among boys as a consequence of the crises probably linked to change climate, ”says the report.
The report said that, under the Paris Agreement, India committed to reducing the emission intensity of its GDP from the 2005 level by 33-35% by 2030 and obtaining 40% of its electrical power capacity from sources. of non-fossil fuels by 2030.
“As part of the plan, the National Solar Mission aims to promote solar energy for power generation and other uses to make solar energy competitive with fossil fuel-based options. Solar capacity in India increased from 2.6 gigawatts in March 2014 to 30 gigawatts in July 2019, reaching its target of 20 gigawatts four years ahead of schedule. In 2019, India ranked fifth in installed solar capacity, ”the report says.
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