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Caribbean countries maintain high human development ranking
Barbados ranks 31st and as No 1 developing country in the world
Friday, November 30, 2007
Five Caribbean Community (Caricom) states have maintained their high rankings in the 2007/08 United Nations Development Programme's (UNDP) Human Development Index which was released Tuesday.
The index, which measures achievements in terms of life expectancy, educational attainment and real income level, places Barbados as the number one developing country in the world with a global ranking of 31 out of 177 nations surveyed, followed by The Bahamas at number 49, St Kitts Nevis at 54, Antigua and Barbuda at 57 and Trinidad and Tobago at number 59.
Haiti, the only Caricom country previously in the low human development index, improved its rating to move into the medium human development rank at number 146, to join Dominica (71), St Lucia (72), Belize (80), Grenada (82), Suriname (85), St Vincent and the Grenadines (93), Guyana (97) and Jamaica at 101.
Dr Rosina Wiltshire, the UNDP Permanent Representative to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, said she was heartened by the performance of the region, especially Barbados and the countries in the Eastern Caribbean which were all ranked within the top 100 countries.
"This is an incredible achievement and shows the results of concerted national, subregional and regional efforts towards sustainable development," she said, noting the Eastern Caribbean's performance placed those countries even above global leaders in economic and technology development such as Brazil, India and Nigeria who were among the richest in energy resources.
The report, entitled "Fighting Climate Change: Human Solidarity in a Divided World", cautioned that climate change was already affecting the region's development and was threatening to deepen the divide between the rich and poor across the region by halting and then reversing the advances made in health and education for the most vulnerable.
"What this report tells us is that while Barbados and the rest of the developing world are not contributing significantly to climate change, the global impact of lifestyles and development trajectory of the richest countries threatens to overturn everything that we have gained," Wiltshire said.
She said unchecked global warming could lead to rising sea levels and the increase in global temperatures which will significantly impact on life in the region.
The report called on countries in the developed world which were the largest contributor to the world's carbon emissions to implement actions designed to curtail these harmful emissions in accordance with the 10-year window previously agreed to at an international conference in Bali.
"If that window is missed, temperature rises of above two degrees Celsius could see over 10 per cent of land in the Bahamas submerged under water, losses of up to 60 per cent of rain-fed maize production in Mexico on which two million farmers depend, the disappearance of glaciers that provide 80 per cent of fresh water to Peruvian cities, and increased cases of dengue fever in previously dengue-free areas of Latin America," said the report.
Wiltshire said she was satisfied that Caricom countries were doing their part to stem the ride of global warming, but said it was the "historic responsibility" to take the lead in balancing the carbon budget through a range of measures.
- Courtesy of CMC
Barbados ranks 31st and as No 1 developing country in the world
Friday, November 30, 2007
Five Caribbean Community (Caricom) states have maintained their high rankings in the 2007/08 United Nations Development Programme's (UNDP) Human Development Index which was released Tuesday.
The index, which measures achievements in terms of life expectancy, educational attainment and real income level, places Barbados as the number one developing country in the world with a global ranking of 31 out of 177 nations surveyed, followed by The Bahamas at number 49, St Kitts Nevis at 54, Antigua and Barbuda at 57 and Trinidad and Tobago at number 59.
Haiti, the only Caricom country previously in the low human development index, improved its rating to move into the medium human development rank at number 146, to join Dominica (71), St Lucia (72), Belize (80), Grenada (82), Suriname (85), St Vincent and the Grenadines (93), Guyana (97) and Jamaica at 101.
Dr Rosina Wiltshire, the UNDP Permanent Representative to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, said she was heartened by the performance of the region, especially Barbados and the countries in the Eastern Caribbean which were all ranked within the top 100 countries.
"This is an incredible achievement and shows the results of concerted national, subregional and regional efforts towards sustainable development," she said, noting the Eastern Caribbean's performance placed those countries even above global leaders in economic and technology development such as Brazil, India and Nigeria who were among the richest in energy resources.
The report, entitled "Fighting Climate Change: Human Solidarity in a Divided World", cautioned that climate change was already affecting the region's development and was threatening to deepen the divide between the rich and poor across the region by halting and then reversing the advances made in health and education for the most vulnerable.
"What this report tells us is that while Barbados and the rest of the developing world are not contributing significantly to climate change, the global impact of lifestyles and development trajectory of the richest countries threatens to overturn everything that we have gained," Wiltshire said.
She said unchecked global warming could lead to rising sea levels and the increase in global temperatures which will significantly impact on life in the region.
The report called on countries in the developed world which were the largest contributor to the world's carbon emissions to implement actions designed to curtail these harmful emissions in accordance with the 10-year window previously agreed to at an international conference in Bali.
"If that window is missed, temperature rises of above two degrees Celsius could see over 10 per cent of land in the Bahamas submerged under water, losses of up to 60 per cent of rain-fed maize production in Mexico on which two million farmers depend, the disappearance of glaciers that provide 80 per cent of fresh water to Peruvian cities, and increased cases of dengue fever in previously dengue-free areas of Latin America," said the report.
Wiltshire said she was satisfied that Caricom countries were doing their part to stem the ride of global warming, but said it was the "historic responsibility" to take the lead in balancing the carbon budget through a range of measures.
- Courtesy of CMC
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