The Human Sustainable Development Index: New calculations and a first critical analysis

The Human Sustainable Development Index (HSDI) has been proposed as a way to amend the United Nations’ Human Development Index (HDI) by adding an environmental dimension. Despite some attention in the media, the HSDI remained largely ignored by the scientific community. This paper aims at overcoming this issue by presenting an updated version of the index, based on recently available UN data, including a complete description of the procedure leading to its calculation and a critical assessment of its relation with some established environmental indicators. We found that, while the HSDI represents a step ahead from the HDI, it remains insufficient in its representation of environmental sustainability. A better equilibrium between social, economic and environmental goals is needed to reach a true index of sustainable development.