Pakistan was ranked at 154th position among 189 countries on U.N.’s 2020Human Development Index’s (HDI) annual rankings that are measured bycombining indicators of health, education, and standards of living but thisyear included two more elements: a nation’s carbon dioxide emissions andmaterial footprint that put enormous strain on the planet.
“With its new, experimental Planetary pressures–adjusted Human DevelopmentIndex, we hope to open a new cconversation on the path ahead for eachcountry—a path yet unexploreed,” Achim Steiner, Administrator of the UnitedNations Development Programme (UNDP), said as he launched the HumanDevelopment Report (HDR) 2020, a flagship study which the programmeproduces annually.
“Humans wield more power over the planet than ever before. In the wake ofCOVID-19, record-breaking temperatures and spiraling inequality, it is timeto use that power to redefine what we mean by progress, where our carbonand consumption footprints are no longer hidden,” he said.
The report is 30th in a series which began in 1990. The first UNDP HumanDevelopment Report (HDR) was prepared and launched under the leadership ofthe late Dr. Mahbubul Haq, a former Pakistan finance minister.
In other South Asian countries, India ranked at 131 on the Planetarypressures-adjusted HD index; Bangladesh: 133; Sri Lanka: 72; Maldives: 95;Nepal: 142, and Bhutan 129.Oil-rich Norway, Ireland, Hong Kong (China), Iceland/Iceland, Germany ledthe rankings, while Niger, the Central African Republic, Chad, South Sudanand Burundi have the lowest scores in the HDI’s measurements.
The United States is placed at 17th position.This year’s Human Development Report, which reviews the performance of thecountries in the year 2019, is titled: “The New Frontier: Human Developmentand the Anthropocene”“In a time where action is needed, the new generation of Human DevelopmentReports, with greater emphasis on the defining issues of our time such asclimate change and inequalities, helps us to steer our efforts towards thefuture we want,” said Stefan Lofven, Prime Minister of Sweden, host countryof the launch of the report.
The next frontier for human development will require working with and notagainst nature, while transforming social norms, values, and government andfinancial incentives, the report