World must measure ‘what matters’ for green transition: UNDP

Niamh Collier-Smith, Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Thailand.
Niamh Collier-Smith, Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme ( UNDP ) in Thailand.

According to Niamh Collier-Smith, Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme ( UNDP ) in Thailand, the world needs to focus on measuring what matters, setting ambitious climate goals, and coordinating private finances to make the green transition.

She was speaking on Monday at the Siam Cement Group community titled “ESG Symposium 2024: Driving Inclusive Green Transition” at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center.

The website, focusing on the natural transition to net zero carbon pollution through the ESG ( Environmental, Social and Governance ) foundation, is part of the Sustainability Expo 2024.

Ms. Collier-Smith said during her speech that the world should shift from” a society that values what it measures to a society that values what it values.”

She claimed that the world used the gross domestic product only to measure global progress back in the 1990s, and that this was not a reliable way to measure actual international progress.

Since then, the universe has used “life duration” and “years of training” rather to measure progress in the world, she said.

Human Development Index

Eventually, the Human Development Index ( HDI), which can help see correlations between humans and development, came into affect, she said.

However, she pointed out that the UNDP had recognised that” the planet” had been missing from the formula on how to measure development, and therefore, the Planetary Pressures-Adjusted Human Development Index ( PHDI) was implemented to help the world measure development with respect to the environment.

However, the picture of improvement had changed, and according to UNDP, 50 % of nations had dropped out of the” High Human Development Index” because no nation in the world can achieve high growth without straining the earth.

” Therefore, what we should be heading]for ] is low planetary impact, high human development”, she said. ” That is the next frontier of human development”.

” To get there, every state has to change”, she added.

To achieve this objective, every land make have ambitious climate commitments, she said. UN member states have published a report called” The Pact for the Future”, where they agree not to pass on today’s challenges to the next generation, she said.

She said that they must make sure that future generations have the flexibility to make their own decisions.

According to her, United Nations member states you abide by the Nationally Determined Contributions or the Climate Vows on the Paris Agreement in order to do so.