US, Canada, Australia plummet in updated human development ranking

A map representing the HDI rank changes when per capita carbon emissions are accounted. Red represents countries that have dropped the most, Green, those who've risen the most

Once upon a time the United States was the most advanced country in the world. But that was when 'advanced' meant that you had a larger GDP than your neighbours. Today we have a more complete ranking: the Human Development Index (HDI) factors life expectancy, education, literacy and purchasing power and other indices. So instead of the United States (which ranks fourth), best country in the world to live in 2011 is Norway. Canada, incidentally, ranks sixth.

Not so fast, says Mongolian academic Chuluun Togtokh. How advanced can a country be if it continuously spews out enormous amounts of greenhouse gases?

In a recent article in Nature, Togtokh has proposed an even more complete means to measuring development. He has factored per capita carbon emissions into the HDI, creating the Human Sustainable Development Index. There are two reasons why this is important. Firstly it rewards countries for reducing their own carbon emissions (decreasing the disruption it makes to its developing neighbours); and second, it creates an incentive for countries to develop on a low-carbon pathway.

A comparison of the 2011 HDI vs. HDSI country rankings (Chuluun Togtokh & Owen Gaffney)

Once recalculated for greenhouse gases, the results are startling. Australia, Canada and the United States plummet right out of the top ten. Austrlia drops from 2nd to 26th. The United States from 4th to 28th. Canada from 6th to 24th. Countries with heavy oil development and oil use also drop, including Luxembourg, a Western European country that drops completely out of the top 25%, 'Very High Human Development' group.

"The HDI has shifted the target of development beyond the almighty dollar; the proposed HSDI would go one step further, and change the role models for development," says Togtokh. "We need such a change because, if the UN continues to encourage countries such as Mongolia to aspire to the US lifestyle, we will all be in serious trouble."

(via Planetsave, Wired and UN University)