Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Despite the high appreciation of and dependence on HDI, the debate
concerning its relevance for measuring quality of life is still unresolved.
Moreover, there is no straightforward pattern relating HDI to other dimen-
sions of human development such as sustainability and empowerment.
The lack of correlation can be seen in the large number of countries that have
high HDI values but perform poorly on sustainability; about a quarter of the
world's countries have a high HDI [15].
As an approach to remedy the limitations of each index, the Global
Footprint Network presents their Human Development Initiative as the
combination of two indices: the EF, with data about given current
population and available land area, and the United Nations' HDI, which
measures a country's average achievements in areas of health, knowledge
and standard of living [39]. This combination enables measurement of the
minimal conditions for sustainable human development, defined as a situ-
ation in which all humans can have fulfilling lives without degrading the
planet. This is illustrated in Figure 1.2, where all countries lie outside the
sustainable quadrant. All countries either provide high living conditions
but exceed the available earth's biocapacity, or do not overburden available
resources but do not provide adequate living conditions for their popula-
tion. Careful investments in energy systems, transportation, health, edu-
cation or urban infrastructure can move countries into a stronger position
in the HDI-EF graph, providing higher human development and less of an
ecological deficit. These investments need to be tested for how they will
affect the three sub-indices of the HDI, as well as the country's resource
dependence. If they generate gains in both arenas, they will advance
human well-being that can last [40].
North America
European Union
Europe, non-EU
Latin America and Caribbean
Middle East and Asia
10
Threshold for high
human development
8
6
Asia-Pacific
Africa
1961
4
Global average available
biocapacity per person
2005
2
Sustainable
development
quadrant
(This must also include the
needs of wild species.)
0
0.0
0.2
0.4
Human Development Index
0.6
0.8
1.0
FIGURE 1.2
Human Development Index and ecological footprint, 2005. (From Our Human Development
Initiative, 2011, Global Footprint Network, from http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.
php/GFN/page/fighting_poverty_our_human_development_initiative)
