This year’s edition of the UN Human Development Report makes bleak reading. Unless we deal with climate change, it says, efforts to reduce poverty will stall then reverse, the poorest countries will suffer first and not even the richest countries will escape global warming. Efforts to improve health and education are also threatened (summary PDF, full report PDF).
“Ultimately, climate change is a threat to humanity as a whole. But it is the poor, a constituency with no responsibility for the ecological debt we are running up, who face the immediate and most severe human costs,” said Kemal Derviş, administrator of the UN Development Programme (press release PDF).
More droughts, floods and storms are already reinforcing existing inequalities in standards of living, says the report. Climate change must be tackled now. “The world lacks neither the financial resources nor the technological capabilities to act. What is missing is a sense of urgency, human solidarity and collective interest,” says the UN (report home page).
The annual report also ranks the UN’s members in terms of their development, using life expectancy, educational attainment and adjusted real income. Top of the pile this year is Iceland, bottom is Sierra Leone. As Reuters notes, per capita GDP is 45 times higher in the former than in the latter. Without fail this ranking brings a rash of stories where countries celebrate or mourn their position – details and full ranking below the fold.
Iceland Most Desirable Country to Live In – Iceland Review
Nepal ranks 142 on UN’s Human Development Index – Nepal News
India ranks 128 in human development – Hindustan Times
Sri Lanka makes progress despite war, UN says – Lanka Business
The NY Times also has a nice blog post on this.
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX
1 Iceland
2 Norway
3 Australia
4 Canada
5 Ireland
6 Sweden
7 Switzerland
8 Japan
9 Netherlands
10 France
11 Finland
12 United States
13 Spain
14 Denmark
15 Austria
16 United Kingdom
17 Belgium
18 Luxembourg
19 New Zealand
20 Italy
21 Hong Kong, China (SAR)
22 Germany
23 Israel
24 Greece
25 Singapore
26 Korea (Republic of )
27 Slovenia
28 Cyprus
29 Portugal
30 Brunei Darussalam
31 Barbados
32 Czech Republic
33 Kuwait
34 Malta
35 Qatar
36 Hungary
37 Poland
38 Argentina
39 United Arab Emirates
40 Chile
41 Bahrain
42 Slovakia
43 Lithuania
44 Estonia
45 Latvia
46 Uruguay
47 Croatia
48 Costa Rica
49 Bahamas
50 Seychelles
51 Cuba
52 Mexico
53 Bulgaria
54 Saint Kitts and Nevis
55 Tonga
56 Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
57 Antigua and Barbuda
58 Oman
59 Trinidad and Tobago
60 Romania
61 Saudi Arabia
62 Panama
63 Malaysia
64 Belarus
65 Mauritius
66 Bosnia and Herzegovina
67 Russian Federation
68 Albania
69 Macedonia (TFYR)
70 Brazil
71 Dominica
72 Saint Lucia
73 Kazakhstan
74 Venezuela
(Bolivarian Republic of )
75 Colombia
76 Ukraine
77 Samoa
78 Thailand
79 Dominican Republic
80 Belize
81 China
82 Grenada
83 Armenia
84 Turkey
85 Suriname
86 Jordan
87 Peru
88 Lebanon
89 Ecuador
90 Philippines
91 Tunisia
92 Fiji
93 Saint Vincent
and the Grenadines
94 Iran (Islamic Republic of )
95 Paraguay
96 Georgia
97 Guyana
98 Azerbaijan
99 Sri Lanka
100 Maldives
101 Jamaica
102 Cape Verde
103 El Salvador
104 Algeria
105 Viet Nam
106 Occupied Palestinian
Territories
107 Indonesia
108 Syrian Arab Republic
109 Turkmenistan
110 Nicaragua
111 Moldova
112 Egypt
113 Uzbekistan
114 Mongolia
115 Honduras
116 Kyrgyzstan
117 Bolivia
118 Guatemala
119 Gabon
120 Vanuatu
121 South Africa
122 Tajikistan
123 Sao Tome and Principe
124 Botswana
125 Namibia
126 Morocco
127 Equatorial Guinea
128 India
129 Solomon Islands
130 Lao People’s
Democratic Republic
131 Cambodia
132 Myanmar
133 Bhutan
134 Comoros
135 Ghana
136 Pakistan
137 Mauritania
138 Lesotho
139 Congo
140 Bangladesh
141 Swaziland
142 Nepal
143 Madagascar
144 Cameroon
145 Papua New Guinea
146 Haiti
147 Sudan
148 Kenya
149 Djibouti
150 Timor-Leste
151 Zimbabwe
152 Togo
153 Yemen
154 Uganda
155 Gambia
156 Senegal
157 Eritrea
158 Nigeria
159 Tanzania
(United Republic of )
160 Guinea
161 Rwanda
162 Angola
163 Benin
164 Malawi
165 Zambia
166 Côte d’Ivoire
167 Burundi
168 Congo (Democratic
Republic of the)
169 Ethiopia
170 Chad
171 Central African Republic
172 Mozambique
173 Mali
174 Niger
175 Guinea-Bissau
176 Burkina Faso
177 Sierra Leone