By Pedro Conceição, Director at UNDP's Human Development Report Office
Siona woman caring for a yoko plant, Ecuadorian Amazon Image: amazonfrontlines.org
In late 2019, much of the world was preoccupied with stories of social unrest rooted in long-standing grievances around inequalities. On the nightly news, social media, and our streets, many of us saw waves of civil protests, reflecting mistrust of institutions and many young people’s frustration at being denied the futures they aspired to.
COVID-19 grabbed the spotlight in 2020, unleashing tremendous uncertainty that also — through massive economic and social disruption — generated big increases in many types of inequality.
In short, the story of 2019 was one of inequalities driving uncertainty, while the story of 2020 was about uncertainty driving greater inequalities.
The United Nations Development Programme’s two latest editions of the “Human Development Report” have picked up on these themes.
The 2019 edition — “Beyond Income, Beyond Averages, Beyond Today: Inequalities in Human Development in the 21st Century” — looked at the widening inequalities that are associated with resentment and protest across the world. The report considered the vast disparities in power, voice, and opportunity that were cementing divides often perpetuated from one generation to the next.
The report argued that social and planetary imbalances often go hand in hand, each worsening the other. Dangerous planetary change … will often hit the poorest the hardest, driving a wedge into existing inequalities.
It also recognized that while some forms of inequality — ones that have long been the focus of social policy domestically and development cooperation internationally — were narrowing, a new breed of inequalities had sprung up. These included inequalities in access to quality education and broadband internet, which are vital to seizing the opportunities of the 21st century.
Indeed, the past year has demonstrated their importance all too clearly. Those with access to a fast internet connection at home — once seen as a luxury — were far more likely to remain in work or education and even to access health care.
We estimated in May 2020 that 86% of children in primary education were not getting an education in countries with low human development ratings, compared with just 20% in countries with very high human development ratings.
Human development in the age of humans
The following report — “The Next Frontier: Human Development and the Anthropocene” — considered the dangers posed by the new geological age. Instead of the planet shaping humans, the Anthropocene is an era in which humans are knowingly shaping the planet.
COVID-19 is just one more entry on a growing list that also includes wildfires, flooding, and other disasters caused by the pressures that humans are placing on planetary processes — ones far beyond what have traditionally been considered in the range of pressing environmental challenges.
The report argued that social and planetary imbalances often go hand in hand, each worsening the other. Dangerous planetary change — think of the impacts of climate change or COVID-19 — will often hit the poorest the hardest, driving a wedge into existing inequalities. Those who earn the most account for a larger share of planetary pressures.
For example, the contribution of Indigenous peoples, on a per person basis, in managing Amazon forestland — which works as a carbon sink — is roughly equivalent to the carbon dioxide emissions per person among the top 1% of the global income distribution. And these Indigenous peoples are often marginalized around the world.
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From analysis to action
But what does applying human development thinking mean in practical terms for those working to tackle these challenges in government and civil society?
It can mean many things. For example, it can mean taking the time to look afresh at what new areas of inequality are emerging and deserve greater attention. It can mean asking what data collection should be a priority for decision-making; we still, for example, know far too little about the health of ecosystems in nearly every country. Or it might mean properly accounting for the social and financial costs of inflicting damage on nature, including climate change. A better reckoning of this could shift the incentive of where governments invest.
It can also mean seeing human development as more than improving people’s well-being. Human development includes seeing people as agents of change. But this means giving them options to make different choices. The “Human Development Report 2020” lays out three mechanisms that can help:
1. Harnessing social norms. A key predictor of people’s behavior is what others around them do and expect them to do. Once someone installs a solar panel, neighbors are much more likely to do so. Just as social norms around using masks or smoking have changed, we must harness social norms that give greater weight to easing planetary pressures.
2. Using prices and regulation to shift economic incentives. Carbon prices and phasing out direct fossil fuel subsidies are examples. The report emphasizes the importance of incentives and investments in research, technology, and innovation.
3. Looking at nature not as a constraint. Instead, it should be seen as an opportunity to advance human development. It can protect and restore ecosystems and ecological infrastructure, upon which our lives ultimately depend. Preserving ecosystems’ integrity can also provide long-lasting economic opportunities, including ecotourism or sustainable fisheries.
In both reports, we argue that human development — focusing on improving the opportunities and freedoms that people have in life — can provide a path forward, empowering people to transform the ways they live and work together, as well as their relationship with the planet. Only then can we break the vicious cycle of uncertainty and inequality that is still casting such a long, dark shadow over our future.
*The views in this opinion piece do not necessarily reflect DNW's editorial views.
Author of the article: Pedro Conceição, is director at UNDP's Human Development Report Office and lead author of the Human Development Report.
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