Development Metrics

Typology

Human Development Index

Mathis_Wackernagel:

"What we want to achieve is development, meaning probably for most people who want to have development, to have great lives. There are different methods to measure that: United Nations uses the Human Development Index (HDI) which is probably limited, but still I don’t know anybody who wants to live on less than 0.8 HDI because that means shorter lives, little access to education and very minimal incomes. The HDI doesn’t cover everything but it’s a good first approximation of a minimal condition: an HDI 0.8 is a threshold for high human development according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). And in addition, we need to ask: ‘how can we achieve this within the capacity of the planet, i.e. an ecological budget of 1.8 global hectares per person?’ That’s what we have available today, including the space for wild species. And it will be less per person as the human population grows." (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/234092351_An_overview_on_ecological_footprint_and_sustainable_development_A_chat_with_Mathis_Wackernagel [accessed Dec 27 2020].