Sustainability and Equity:A better future for all

Ricarda RiegerUNDP Country DirectorKyiv, 3 November 2011

Why equity and sustainability?How can we…. Maintain progress in ways

that are equitable and that do not harm the environment?

Meet the development aspirations of poor people worldwide?

Promote policies that will advance both equity and sustainability?

Environmental and inequality trends threaten

human development progress

By 2050, the global HDI would be:

19% higher than it is today.• Largest increase in

developing countries (24%).

• 44% for Sub-Saharan Africa and 36% for South Asia.

8% lower in an environmental challenge scenario.• 12% for South Asia and

Sub-Saharan Africa.

15% lower in an environmental disaster scenario.• Dramatic impact on

developing countries• 24% for Sub-Saharan

Africa and 22% for South Asia.

Environmental trends threaten human development progress

Environmental trends threaten human development progress

HDI

… and development gaps will be harder to closeBy 2050:

Without new environmental challenges: inequality is expected to decrease.

Environmental challenge scenario: reduction in inequality is predicted to slow down.

Environmental disaster scenario: widening inequality, reversing current trends.

Inequalities generate losses on human development and also threaten future progress

Our Inequality-adjusted HDI reveals losses of 23% of HDI globally.

Health and education disparities are narrowing, but income inequality is worsening. • Average country-level income inequality increased around 20

percent over 1990–2005.

Higher levels of gender inequality (GII) is associated with lower levels of sustainability.• Meeting unmet need for family planning could cut carbon

emissions by about 17% by 2050.

1.5 billion people lack electricity, 2.6 billion lack access to basic sanitation.• If current trends continue, more people will lack access to

modern energy in 2030 than today.

Environmental challenges are wide spread and their effects are more severe on the poorest, both

at the macro level...

Environmental challenges are driven by climate change and chronic environmental

threats Global temperatures are

rising.• Now average 0.75°C

higher.than at the beginning of the

20thcentury.

Sea level is rising.• 20 centimeters higher

today than in 1870

Likelihood of natural disasters is increasing.• Average number per year

doubled over 25 years

Loss of forest cover threatens livelihoods and biodiversity.• Low HDI countries

experience greatest losses (11%).

Poorest countries have been worst affected by changes in precipitation

• Overall Decline in precipitation of more than 4%.

• Increased variability.

• Sub-Saharan Africa experienced largest decline, more than 7%.

… and at the household level

Environmental challenges have a negative impact on poor households

Education:• Environmental challenges constrain both enrolment and

progress of enrolled children.

Livelihoods:• Significant risks for 350 million people who rely on forests

for subsistence and incomes.• Similarly for 45 million (6 million are women) that fish for

a living.

Health:• Indoor air pollution kills 11 times more people in low HDI

countries• Each year 3 million children under age 5 die from

environment-related diseases.

In poor households, environmental deprivations are widespread

The poor suffer multiple environmental deprivations (MPI)• 80% experience two or more, and 29% face all three.

Nearly 90% lack access to modern cooking fuels, 80% lack adequate sanitation, and 35% lack clean water.

In South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa • 90% of lack access to modern cooking fuels • 85% lack access to improved sanitation.

In several Arab States more than 60% face water shortages.

Development aspirations of poor people must be met in a

framework of global and local sustainability

Rising to the policy challenges at the local level

Change the development model towards more sustainable production and consumption patterns

Clean and safe environment – a right not a privilege.• Promote more inclusive participation in governance and

policy-making by those most vulnerable to environmental hazards.

Meeting development aspirations of poor people while preserving the environment. • Promising examples of win-win policies exist at the national

level.

The scale of the challenge demands massive simultaneous investment and innovation.

This can be done; an incremental approach is not

enough. A macro shift is needed

For a macro shift, we need global innovations

Current development finance is insufficient and with unequal access (countries and sectors).

New financing sources: Currency Transactions Tax• Feasibility of implementation and growing high-level

support

Reforms for greater equity and access to finance.• State role in catalyzing private resources• “Deal-flow” climate facilities to help local actors with

the complex requirements to access climate finance• National climate funds to promote blending of

resources

For a macro shift, we need global innovations

Swift implementation of UN Universal Energy Access Initiative.• Global campaign• Removing barriers to technology diffusion • Support of National low-emission, climate-resilient

development strategies.

Achieving this would increase CO2 emissions by only 0.8%• Estimated annual investment is less than an eighth of

annual subsidies for fossil fuel.

Promoting human development requires addressing sustainability.

This can and should be done in ways that are equitable and

empowering

Human Development Index values and rank changes in

the 2011 Human Development Report

HDI values and rank

The 2011 Human Development Report presents

• HDI values and ranks for 187 countries and UN-recognized territories

• Inequality-adjusted HDI for 134 countries

• Gender Inequality Index for 146 countries and

• Multidimensional Poverty Index for 109 countries

Ukraine’s HDI value and rank

Ukraine’s HDI value for 2011 is 0.729—in the high human development category—positioning the country at 76 out of 187 countries and territories

Between 1990 and 2011, Ukraine’s HDI value increased from 0.707 to 0.729, an increase of 3.0 per cent or average annual increase of about 0.1 per cent

Ukraine’s 2011 HDI of 0.729 is below the average of 0.741 for countries in the high human development group and below the average of 0.751 for countries in Europe and Central Asia

Ukraine’s IHDI, GII and MPI

Ukraine’s HDI for 2011 is 0.729. When the value is discounted for inequality, the HDI falls to 0.662, a loss of 9.2 per cent due to inequality in the distribution of the dimension indices

Ukraine has a GII value of 0.335, ranking it 57 out of 146 countries in the 2011 index

In Ukraine 2.2 per cent of the population suffer multiple deprivations while an additional 1.0 per cent are vulnerable to multiple deprivations

Thank you