The Human Development Index doesn't take into account the sustainability of development projects particularly environmental sustainability, Environment and Natural Resources Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka yesterday told international journalists. He said they should to take the initiative for this both at regional and global level. Addressing a media conference in Colombo on the concept of Developing a Sustainable Human Development Index, he said HDI calculations need to integrate environmental assessment parameters like environment pollution and carbon emissions which are an unwelcome adjunct of economic development. He said the degree of impact of human activities on the environment and climate change impacts are also some critical aspects that need to be considered when assessing the net degree of development. "Therefore, we are of the view that a comprehensive assessment of development which articulates all these dimensions would provide the true picture of human development," Ranawaka said. The HDI prepared by the United Nations Development Programme primarily aims at reflecting the status of human being. It also attempts to provide a better estimate of development than the broadly used indicators like Gross Domestic Product. Three basic criteria are used for this calculation - life expectancy, adult literacy and per capita income in terms of per capita purchasing parity (PPP). According to some preliminary calculations by scientists using available data, the sustainable human development status of the South Asian countries appears to be superior to the so called economically affluent countries that are placed at the top of HDI. "We are quite convinced that such a holistic approach would provide a more realistic picture of the development against a more or less distorted picture that reflects by the current HDI. We believe that this new approach would portray the true nature of development in the form of a Sustainable Human Development Index. Thus, in the context of the SHDI, the present categorization of 'developed' and 'underdeveloped' status of the countries is bound to change," Ranawaka said. Citing examples, he said Sri Lanka which is ranked at 99 on HDI scale will be placed at 27th position on the SHDI scale. Similarly, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh placed at 128th, 142nd, 136th and 140th positions respectively on HDI scale, will be placed at 59th, 60th, 61st and 79th positions respectively on SHDI scale. In contrast, major developed countries standing at 2nd, 3rd, 8th, 12th and 16th positions on HDI scale will be placed at 10th, 11th, 50th, 94th and 55th positions respectively on SHDI scale.