Question : Consider the following statements about Human Development Index(HDI) 2020
i) It is released by United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) every year.
ii) In the 2020 edition of Human Development Report a new metric is introduced called Planetary Pressure-Adjusted HDI.
iii) India fell two places below to 131 positions from its 2019 rank.
Which of the above are correct?
a) i and ii
b) ii and iii
c) i, ii and iii
d) none of the above
Answer: c)
Context
- United Nations Development Programme has released the 2020 edition of Human Development Report (HDR).
- Human Development Index (HDI) is part of the report.
- This year HDR is titled as The Next Frontier, Human Development and the Anthropocene.
Background
- The first HDR was launched in 1990 by the Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq and Indian Nobel laureate Amartya Sen.
- Since then reports have been released most years, and have explored different themes through the human development approach, which places people at the center of the development process.
What is HDI?
- HDI is a statistical tool to measure a nation’s socioeconomic development. It is mostly measured by level of healthcare, education and standard of living available to people of that country.
What is new in 2020 edition?
- In 2020 edition UNDP has introduced a new metric called Planetary Pressure Adjusted HDI or PHDI.
- PHDI reflects the impact of Human activities on planet earth and hence on Human Development. It includes each country’s carbon emission per capita and its material footprint.
Rankings
- India dropped two ranks, standing at 131 out of 189 countries.
- If the Index were adjusted to assess the planetary pressures caused by each nation’s development, India would move up eight places in the ranking, according to the report.
- Norway, which tops the HDI, falls 15 places if this metric is used, leaving Ireland at the top of the table.
- In fact, 50 countries would drop entirely out of the “very high human development group” category, using this new metric.
- China ranked 85 and Niger was at bottom at 189.
Impact of Pandemic
- Although this year’s report covers 2019 only, and does not account for the impact of COVID, it projected that in 2020, global HDI would fall below for the first time in the three decades since the Index was introduced.
By – Kameshwar Shukla