M’sia up one spot in UNDP Human Development Index

Small improvement: The better ranking has been attributed to the nation’s increase in average life expectancy to 76.2 years and its increase in Gross National Income per capita. — IZZRAFIQ ALIAS/The Star

PETALING JAYA: While Malaysia has seen an improved Human Development Index (HDI) score this year, this value would have been lower if certain climate and environmental criteria were taken into account.

In the HDI report launched by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Malaysia moved up from its 63rd rank last year, to 62nd out of 189 countries this year in the index which measures human progress and well-being.

Its HDI value is 0.810, which is above the average 0.747 value recorded in East Asia and the Pacific region.

The better ranking has been attributed to Malaysia’s increase in average life expectancy to 76.2 years (76 previously) and its increase in Gross National Income per capita to US$27,534 or RM111,554 (which was US$27,227 or RM110,310 previously). This year, however, the report which is entitled: “The next frontier: Human Development and the Anthropocene” also introduced a new experimental measure – Planetary-Pressures Adjusted Human Development Index (PHDI) – to account for the strain on the planet caused by human activity.

While Malaysia’s HDI value is at 0.810, its PHDI value dropped to 0.699 when taking carbon emissions and material footprint into account.

(Material footprint refers to the total amount of raw materials extracted to meet final consumption demands).

Malaysia’s carbon dioxide emission per capita stands at 8.1 tonnes, in contrast to Sweden which emits about 4.1 tonnes and Sri Lanka, 1.1 tonnes. The country’s material footprint per capita is about 24.2 tonnes, in comparison to 4.4 tonnes in the Philippines or 2.4 tonnes in Bangladesh.

Dr Haniza Khalid, Senior Development Economist at UNDP Malaysia, noted that the dilemma of balancing between human activity and ecological sustainability is not unique to Malaysia.

“No country in the world has yet achieved very high human development without putting an immense strain on the planet, but we can be the first generation to do so and right this wrong, ” she said at the virtual launch of the report yesterday.

UNDP resident representative for Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Niloy Banerjee said the PHDI measurement, while still very new, offers a glimpse into how much the country is affecting climate change.

“It is a very crude measure and not highly evolved yet, but it’s an interesting and stark reminder of the impact that we have on the planet, ” he said.

He also noted that the data to calculate the score was taken from last year, which is before the Covid-19 crisis emerged.

Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, who attended the launch, said while human beings have made great strides in driving progress, society must take care not to allow inequalities to deepen.

“How we recover from this (pandemic), will say everything about us as a species. Will we take this opportunity to address structural inequity that has been exacerbated by the pandemic?

“As we welcome the incredible scientific breakthrough that we have seen over the last week with the commencement of what will be the biggest vaccination programme in human history, we are also reminded of how this light at the end of the tunnel is fractured by not enough global solidarity and once again inequity, ” he said.

In the panel discussion, Khazanah Research Institute research adviser Jomo Kwame Sundaram spoke of the difficulty in managing the trade-offs between human activity and ecological issues.

“For many people in the world, improvement of personal well-being or family well-being is more important than collective well-being.

“So this idea is seen in a short-term context, and understandably so, especially for people who have livelihood challenges, ” he said.

Gan Pek Chuan, who is UNDP Biodiversity and Sustainable Development programme manager, said it is challenging to design policies that spell out the responsibility of humanity towards the planet.

“Humans are now the culprits and the victims of the pressures we exert on our planet, so it’s not our usual clear-cut ‘rule of law’ where we penalise those who commit a crime, ” she said.