Human Development, Environmental Sustainability, and Index of Overall Development

Abstract

Chapter 4 introduces the concept and measurement of multidimensional poverty and that of human development indicators as its obverse in terms of attainment of human capability. On the other hand, on the environmental sustainability front, the chapter discusses the measures of ecological footprint and its obverse the environmental performance index as possible alternative indicators. It has reviewed the concept of ecological footprint along with carbon footprint which are measures of stress caused by human demands on the services of ecosystems in terms of appropriation of productive land area. The environmental performance indicator on the other hand indicates the extent of performance of environmental conservation and protection as driven by human policy initiatives. Finally, the chapter provides an overall development indicator based on the indicators of three components of sustainability—economic, social, and environmental—as their geometric mean, along with the comparative estimates of per capita income.