Human Development Report

05/29/2026

Investing in means investing in . 🌿

A nature-positive transition can create millions of jobs, strengthen resilience, and advance , while delivering higher long-term returns on investment.

That’s why is developing the Nature Relationship Index (NRI) to complement the Human Development Index (HDI) and help assess humanity’s relationship with nature.

Read the latest blog by Midori Paxton, Global Head of Ecosystems and Biodiversity, published on Impakter, on why investing in is key to helping both people and planet thrive together:

🔗https://impakter.com/nature-is-hiring-why-investing-in-biodiversity-means-investing-in-jobs/

United Nations Development Programme - UNDP

05/21/2026

🎬 New Byte Size Episode!

Join Katarina Kuai and Kirit Patel from the United Nations Development Coordination Office (UNDCO) as they sit down with HDRO Director Pedro Conceição to explore the United Nations Development Programme - UNDP's , A matter of choice: People and possibilities in the age of AI, in their videocast Byte Size.

From ’s impact on development to moving beyond the “replacement” narrative, Pedro unpacks how thinking—wellbeing, agency, and dignity—can guide the and countries in shaping technology rather than just reacting to it.

🎯 Highlights:
• : What human development really measures
• AI & Reconfiguration: Why substitution isn’t the story
• Agency in the Age of Algorithms: Who really drives AI
• Shaping Technology: How the UN can move from taker to shaper

▶️ Watch now:

Join Katarina Kuai and Kirit Patel from the UN Development Coordina...

05/15/2026

Our new collaborative research with The University of Texas at Austin suggests that “development alone may not be enough to bring fertility back.”

HDRO recently co-hosted a session with the Population Research Center, University of Texas at Austin at the Population Association of America’s Annual Meeting 2026 ( ), titled: “Human Development and Fertility: New Evidence and Enduring Debates.”

Our Policy Specialist Yu-Chieh Hsu shared insights from the research, highlighting that as below-replacement fertility spreads, future studies need to consider gender, institutions, social norms, and the diversity of countries across the Index (HDI) spectrum.

This emerging demographic trend calls for broader discussions and further policy-relevant research.

🌐 Visit our website to learn more: https://hdr.undp.org/

05/08/2026

📣 World Risk Poll 2026 Launch 📣

Join Llyoid's Register Foundation and HDRO at London Climate Action Week for the launch of the first 2026 report on Tuesday, 23 June 2026!

The event will reveal the latest data on how people in 140 countries see the threat of . It will also feature an interactive session, exploring the gap between personal perceptions of climate risk and perceptions of the others’ beliefs, and the implications this has for risk communication, policy, and efforts to drive effective .

HDRO’s Chief Statistician Yanchun Zhang will introduce at the launch, connecting global risk perceptions with perspectives. ✨

✅ Check out the event page and register now! https://www.lrfoundation.org.uk/events/world-risk-poll-2026-launch-global-attitudes-to-climate-risk

05/06/2026

Recently at the United Nations Development Programme - UNDP, we welcomed distinguished parliamentarians from the Republic of Korea!

Together with the Bureau for External Relations and Advocacy and the Crisis Bureau, the HDRO team was pleased to share insights from the Human Development Report (HDR), 's flagship publication.

We thank the Korean government for our strong partnership and look forward to further strengthening it and deepening our collaboration with partners across the public and private sectors, academia, civil society, and beyond. 🤝

🤖 Check out the latest on AI: https://hdr.undp.org/content/human-development-report-2025

📊 Explore our global survey on people’s perceptions of (with Korea among the 21 countries covered): https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/2025-global-survey-ai-and-human-development

#유엔개발계획 #인간개발보고서 #한국 #국회 #파트너십

05/05/2026

Join us at the Population Association of America’s Annual Meeting 2026 ( ) this week, a major global gathering for demographers and population scientists! 🌍

HDRO’s Policy Specialist Yu-Chieh Hsu will take part in a member-initiated meeting, co-organized by the Population Research Center, University of Texas at Austin on Friday, May 8th from 12:15–1:30 PM EDT!

Register here👉 https://www.populationassociation.org/paa2026/home

Titled “Human Development and Fertility: New Evidence and Enduring Debates,” the session will explore key questions at the intersection of and fertility, including:

• Does fertility rebound at very high levels of human development?
• Can improvements in the Human Development Index (HDI) explain declining global fertility?
• What do HDRO’s gender-focused development indices reveal about fertility patterns?

Yu-Chieh will present HDRO’s latest thinking on measuring human and gender development. This work is part of a collaborative project with The University of Texas at Austin researchers.

📊 Learn more about the HDI: https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/human-development-index #/indicies/HDI

And gender-focused indices: https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/composite-indices

05/04/2026

Recently, the HDRO team shared ideas and progress on the upcoming Human Development Report 2026 with our advisory board, co-chaired by Laura Chinchilla Miranda, former President of Costa Rica, and Mike Spence, Philip H. Knight Professor Emeritus of Management at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

Focusing on refining the report’s positioning and objectives, our colleagues walked the board through the framing of each chapter, sparking thoughtful discussion and valuable feedback.

🙏 We’re sincerely grateful to our advisory board members for their insights and guidance and look forward to continuing the journey toward .

Visit our website to follow updates on the report: https://hdr.undp.org/reports-and-publications/towards-2026-human-development-report 🔗

05/03/2026

05/01/2026

🌿📊 How do we measure our relationship with nature?

Emma Marris, author of Wild Souls: Freedom and Flourishing in the Non-Human World, shares a personal reflection on the development process behind HDRO's Nature Relationship Index (NRI) in a first-person article published in MIT Technology Review.

Having participated in the process, she writes openly about the experience and the thinking behind the effort to better understand how humans relate to the natural world.

The piece connects closely with the spirit of the Human Development Report 2026, which emphasizes strengthening the reconnection between people and the planet.

📖 Read the article here: https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/04/16/1135245/measure-relationship-with-nature-index/
💡 Learn more about the : https://hdr.undp.org/reports-and-publications/towards-2026-human-development-report

The United Nations wants to know what country works best with the natural world. That’s tough to measure.

04/30/2026

This month, and the team co-hosted a consultation with the United Nations Development Programme - UNDP’s leading economists to discuss the , focusing on the economic narrative and content of the report.

The forthcoming Human Development Report will provide a great opportunity for us to build on existing work that demonstrates the reinforcing relationship between a healthy nature and , while dispelling narratives that pit planetary sustainability against economic prosperity.

Stay tuned🔔: https://lnkd.in/e2enfNJq