India ranks 110th on Sustainable Development index

• India has been ranked a low 110th out of 149 countries on Sustainable Development index (SDI). 
• The SDI assesses countries where they stand with regard to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) also their progress and ensuring accountability.

Key Facts 

• Top 10 Countries: Sweden (1st), Denmark (2nd), Norway (3rd), Finland (4th), Switzerland (5th), Germany (6th), Austria (7th), Netherlands (8th), Iceland (9th) and United Kingdom (10th). 
• Bottom 5 Countries: Chad (145th), Niger (146th), Congo (147th), Liberia (148th) and Central African Republic (149th).
•  India’s neighbours: Pakistan (115th), Myanmar (117th), Bangladesh (118th) and Afghanistan (139th). 
• BIRCS: Russia (47th), China (76th) and India (110th). 
• The countries closest to fulfilling the SDGs are not the biggest economies but comparably small, developed countries. 
• Poor and developing countries score lowest on the SDG Index as they have little resources at their disposal. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries struggle to meet the goals on climate change, inequality, sustainable consumption and ecosystems.
•  Developing countries face major difficulties in providing basic social services and infrastructure access to their populations. 
• For Latin America and the Caribbean countries face challenge of high levels of inequality among the most pressing issues. 
• East and South Asia outperform many other developing regions but unmet challenges mostly persist in health and education. 
• Sub-Saharan Africa which is the world’s poorest region faces major challenges across almost all SDGs, with extreme poverty, hunger and health as major areas. 

About Sustainable Development index (SDI) 

• The SDI seeks to help countries identify gaps that must be closed in order to achieve SDGS by 2030 and to identify priorities for early action. 
• The new index was launched by Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and the Bertelsmann Stiftung. 
• Methodology: SDI ranks countries based on their performance across the 17 global SDGs. The index helps countries to identify priorities for early actions. 

About Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 

SDGs are 17 global non-binding goals featuring 169 targets to be implemented from 2015 to 2030. These goals and targets are a set of ambitious objectives across the three dimensions of sustainable development viz. economic development, social inclusion and environmental sustainability, underpinned by good governance.

Role of Ecology and Environment

Introduction
Economy of a country is a matter of prime concern, especially these days when every country is out and actively participating in taking the lead for the survival and to emerge as a supreme power. The economic development of a country is considered to be the development of the country itself. Though there are many things that has an upper take to the economy, still the country need to prioritise this in order to match the pace of the world. The market value, shares and dividends have got an upper hand over the priceless emotions, affection and love. Such an economic development is controlled by many ecological and environmental factors.

Role of ecology and environment in the economic development is to a great extent. Any country portrays its economy in terms of the available resources, which yields the per capita income. These resources are nothing but the gift of ecology and environment. All the living and non-living things of any community, or for that matter, any country, gets summed up into the wide sectors of ecology and environment. Both these terms ‘ecology’ and ‘environment’ coincide in their implication at many inferences. Let us briefly check what actually ecology and the environment include in itself, which has got a deep rooted impact on the economic growth.

Ecology

Ecology is the interaction between the biotic and abiotic community amongst themselves and with each other, thereby giving an entirety called ecosystem. Ecology includes all the forms and species of life, their utilisation, role in the environmental matters, impacts on the atmosphere, every possible aspect that can be collated to express a sound interaction. The ecological aspect of life is of utmost importance for the existence and survival of any species.

Environment

Environment is again a similar form as ecology. Environment deals with the existence of the resources of any form, its usage by the living species and their impact. Environment is more of a abstract term which can be better explained by the words like atmosphere or surrounding in physical world; or situation or circumstances, if explained in terms of vitality. Environment is the space, the void which incapacitates the life providing them a cosy atmosphere to reside.