Topic: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources. Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.
7. “Progress in human development cannot be sustained without addressing environmental degradation and climate change”, comment on the statement in the light of recently released 2019 Human Development Index (HDI) vis-à-vis India’s rank.(250 Words)
Why this question:
Human Development Report 2019 has been released recently. The report is titled, “Beyond income, beyond averages, beyond today: Inequalities in human development in the 21st century”. India climbed one spot to 129 in the latest human development released by UNDP.
Key demand of the question:
One has to trace the links between human development and the climate change scenario.
Directive:
Comment– here we have to express our knowledge and understanding of the issue and form an overall opinion thereupon.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
In brief narrate few key facts from the report.
Body:
Discuss the key findings and emphasize on the following key aspects –
- Inequality and the climate crisis are interwoven—from emissions and impacts to policies and resilience. Countries with higher human development generally emit more carbon per person and have higher ecological footprints overall.
- Climate change will hurt human development in many ways beyond crop failures and natural disasters.
- Climate change will hit the tropics harder first, and many developing countries are in the tropics. At the same time, developing countries and poor and vulnerable communities have fewer capacities to adapt to climate change and severe weather events than do their richer counterparts.
- The negative impacts of climate change extend to health and education. Between 2030 and 2050 climate change is expected to cause some 250,000 additional deaths a year from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea and heat stress.
- If disasters tend to hit disadvantaged people harder, climate change could make vicious cycles of low outcomes and low opportunities more persistent.
- Millions of Indians in low-lying coastal areas are exposed to a rise in sea levels.
Conclusion:
Conclude that the report underlines that poor people should be protected from the fallout of climate change.
