The WEF Nexus Index and Human Development Index as complementary lenses of sustainable development

The Water-Energy-Food (WEF) Nexus Index shows a higher correlation with the Human Development Index (HDI)—0.81—than the Corruption Perception Index (0.73), the Human Rights Index (0.48), the Gini coefficient (-0.33) or even the Planetary pressures-adjusted HDI (0.80). This reinforces, quantitatively, that nations that rank highly in health, education and income also typically have sustainable and equitable access to water, energy and food resources (e.g. Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, and Sweden). Conversely, countries with low HDIs generally face severe resource insecurity and/or an inequitable distribution of resources (e.g. South Sudan, the Central African Republic, Chad, Mali, and Niger). Some countries achieve relatively high human development despite water, energy, and food limitations (e.g. Cyprus, Malta, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan). Many of these are small island states or water-stressed nations. Countries with relatively low HDI and high WEF Nexus Index scores often reflect contexts in which policies and programs have not yet been fully translated into broad human development improvements (e.g. Mali, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Nepal, and Cameroon). An assessment of China, Vietnam, and Brazil underscores that while human development and resource security are broadly correlated, they can diverge due to factors such as resource endowments and policy choices. The comparative analysis of the WEF Nexus Index and the HDI underscores that neither index alone provides a holistic perspective on development—rather, the two indices of nexuses within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) together offer a more comprehensive view of a nation’s development that is aligned with the ‘Beyond GDP’ initiative—SDGs 2, 6, 7, and 13, amongst others, for the WEF Nexus Index, and inter alia, SDGs 1, 3, 4, and 8 for the HDI. The HDI has proven invaluable for tracking social progress, but it does not assess whether that progress is achieved sustainably. The WEF Nexus Index helps fill this gap by evaluating a country’s fundamental resource security in terms of access and availability. By evaluating the pillars, sub-pillars, and indicators in these two indices, policy-makers and decision-makers can identify key focus sectors for action, monitoring, and evaluation, or benchmark themselves against other nations or regions.