| Sustainable development is synonymous in the minds of many with the colour green—and for good reason. Twenty years ago at the first Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, leaders set out what today is conventional wisdom: human progress—both social and economic—cannot be divorced from environmental protection. Unless both are advanced together, both will flounder or fail. Sustainable development is as much about health, education, and jobs, as it is about ecosystems. It is about ever widening inclusion and movement away from decisions that erode democratic space and do not address social inequality, intolerance, and violence. Sustainable development is about change that transforms impoverished peoples, communities, and countries into informed, educated, healthy and productive societies. It is about wealth creation that generates equality and opportunity; it is about consumption and production patterns that respect planetary boundaries; it is about increasing tolerance and respect for human rights. Building on the human development legacy that originated with Amartya Sen and Mahbub Ul Haq and was captured by the first Human Development Report in 1990, UNDP has long promoted alternative approaches to measuring human progress, including with the Human Development Index. Today, we are building on this legacy by exploring how to adjust the index to reflect environmental sustainability, so that governments and citizens might better track real progress towards truly sustainable development. This must be our collective objective. |