Jamaica ranks 23rd most sustainably developed country in world... Cuba ranked first, Trinidad 40th, Singapore last. The index of 163 countries is based on SDI calculations.

BY ALEXIS MONTEITH Observer writer  Friday, January 03, 2020

According to the Sustainable Development Index (SDI) which assesses the “ecological efficiency of human development”, Jamaica is ranked 23rd in the world; but it is the island's immediate neighbour, Cuba, that is ranked number one, globally.

Island development

The English language socialist newspaper, the Morning Star, recently carried a story featuring Cuba's top position on the index, and highlighted the difference between the Human Development Index (HDI) and the SDI, which was created as an alternative to the more conventional and widely-accepted HDI.

“Countries that have high human development with low ecological impact rise to the top of the SDI,” the SDI website explains. “Countries with low human development, and countries with high human development but high ecological impact fall to the bottom of the SDI.”

“In this way, the SDI promotes a new vision for progress in the 21st century — one compatible with the ecology of our planet,” the site continues. “To succeed in terms of SDI, poor nations must significantly improve human development while keeping their ecological impact within planetary boundaries, while rich nations must maintain or enhance human development while significantly reducing their ecological impact down to sustainable levels.”

An aerial view of New Kingston

The index of 163 countries is based on SDI calculations for 2015, which is the most recent year of complete data. Other countries in and around the Caribbean basin which are measured by the SDI include Costa Rica, ranked second and Panama, ranked fifth.

Venezuela, Colombia and the Dominican Republic are ranked twelfth, thirteenth and fifteenth, respectively, with Belize at 27 and Trinidad and Tobago at 40.

“The SDI starts with each nation's human development score (life expectancy, education and income) and divides it by their ecological overshoot —the extent to which consumption-based CO2 emissions and material footprint exceed per capita shares of planetary boundaries,” SDI reveals. “Countries that achieve relatively high human development while remaining within or near planetary boundaries rise to the top.” more