|
In most countries, including Brazil, China and India, human development has risen over the last 30 years. But some countries, not all of them developing or underdeveloped, have shifted into reverse gear, says the latest Human Development Report
Many of the world's richest and most advanced nations, including six of those in the G8 club of the world's richest countries that control over 65% of the world's economy have been sliding down the Human Development Index (HDI) over the years, says the latest United Nations Human Development Report (HDR). The countries figuring in the list of those falling behind are the US, UK, Canada, Germany, Italy and Russia. Of the G8 nations, only France and Japan have steadily improved their performance on the development front, the 2007/2008 HDR says. The US has slid from third position in the Human Development Index (HDI) to 12 this year; the UK has dropped from 10 to 16; Germany has gone down from 14 to 22; and Italy now stands at 20 compared to 19 in 2000. Russia is down to 67th position from 62 in 2006; Japan has improved its position from nine to eight; France has moved up from 12 to 10. Conversely, European countries that are not among the world's richest but have made significant improvements in their rankings since the HDI was first established in 2000 are Spain (21 in 2000 to 13 this year), while Ireland has improved from 18 to a position in the top five. Introduced with the first HDR in 1990, the HDI assesses the state of human development through life expectancy, adult literacy and school enrolment at the primary, secondary and tertiary level, along with income, based on the most recent reliable data from UN partners and other official sources. Due to shifts in how countries report the statistics from which the rankings are calculated, the index is subject to regular adjustments. The rankings are compiled on the basis of data from two years ago. While 177 countries were ranked in 2007, 17 countries that are UN member states, including Afghanistan, Somalia and Iraq have been excluded from the 2007 list due to lack of sufficient reliable data. In all, 16 countries have a lower HDI today than in 1990. Three of these countries -- the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia and Zimbabwe -- have lower rates of human development than they did in 1975. Released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on November 27, HDR 2007/2008, entitled 'Fighting Climate Change: Human Solidarity in a Divided World', focuses on the impact of climate change on the world's poor and vulnerable. The report observes that the countries with the highest level of "development" also have the "heaviest carbon footprint" -- they are the highest emitters of carbon, held chiefly responsible for global climate change. According to the report, the top 20 countries in the HDI emitted more CO2 in 2004 than all the medium and low human development countries combined, while China and India are the largest emitters of CO2 amongst developing countries; together they emitted less in 2004 than the top 32 countries in the HDI, excluding the United States. By itself, the United States emitted almost as much as China and India combined in 2004. "The carbon budget of the 21st century -- the amount of carbon that can be absorbed creating an even probability that temperatures will not rise above four degrees -- is being overspent and threatens to run out entirely by 2032," says Kevin Watkins, lead author of the report, "and the poor -- those with the lightest carbon footprint but the least means to protect themselves -- are the first victims of the developed countries' energy-rich lifestyle." Across the world, 1.6 billion poor people still rely on fuelwood and animal dung for fuel. While they are left in the dark, rich countries are running up the energy bills, says the report. If each poor person on the planet had the same energy-rich lifestyle as the average American, nine planets like ours would be needed to safely cope with the pollution, it adds. For instance, the 19 million people living in New York State have a higher carbon footprint than the 766 million people living in the world's 50 least developed countries, the report notes, while an average airconditioning unit in Florida emits more CO2 in a year than a person in Afghanistan or Cambodia during their lifetime. The report says major carbon emitting countries have an historical responsibility to lead the way in balancing the global carbon budget, while providing incentives to developing countries to adopt clean technologies. Source: AFP, November 27, 2007
www.undp.org, November 27, 2007
|
