Planetary pressures-adjusted HDI
Also called: PHDI · Topic: Measuring Development: Income, HDI and Sustainability · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Planetary pressures-adjusted HDI (PHDI) lowers a country's HDI to reflect the strain its development puts on the planet. UNDP introduced it in HDR 2020, "The Next Frontier: Human Development and the Anthropocene". The adjustment is the average of two indices: per capita carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions and per capita material footprint (the raw materials used per person). The PHDI is always at or below the HDI.
Formula: PHDI = HDI × (1 − index of planetary pressures)
Example
Very-high-HDI countries fall the furthest, because high consumption means high emissions and heavy use of materials. Norway, for example, drops many places. Lower-HDI countries with small footprints lose little. The lesson is that much of today's high human development is bought with pressure on the planet that cannot be sustained.
Don't confuse with
- Inequality-adjusted HDI (IHDI): introduced in 2010, the IHDI lowers the HDI for unequal sharing among people. The PHDI lowers it for environmental pressure.