A New Way to Measure Progress

Sustainability

Stone bridge surrounded by trees in Japan

July 24, 2025

What does progress mean on a planet reshaped by people?

In the June 26, 2025 issue of Nature, we redefine progress to embrace all of life on Earth (read our perspective here). We also propose to measure this progress – and lack thereof – for every nation every year, to more effectively motivate our societies to shape a future where people and the rest of nature can thrive together.

Shaping the future of life is an ambitious proposal, to say the least. But great ideas can and have reshaped our world – and even our entire planet – for the better. Think of human rights, vaccines, electricity, and environmental protection. And deeper still, the many cultures of nature kinship that still recognize that people and nature are inseparable.

Our perspective combines ideas from across a dream team of thought leaders in ecology, data science, environmental governance, Indigenous philosophy, psychology, anthropology, history, economics, sustainability, transformative change, conservation, environmental writing, and human development. It also stands on the shoulders of giants.

We take our inspiration from a truly great idea: the capabilities approach of human development pioneered by Amartya Sen. Further developed by Mahbub ul Haq in 1990 to include a new way to measure the progress of nations, the UNDP’s Human Development Report (HDR) and the Human Development Index (HDI) have contributed to decades of unprecedented improvements in human lives across the planet.

Diagram of the Human Development Index (HDI) — The Human Development Index (HDI)

Every year, the HDI sends a powerful message to nations around the world by showing which are doing better and which are falling behind in enabling people to lead the lives they value – longer and healthier lives, access to education, and a decent standard of living. Every year, the HDI gets heard. It influences thinking, shapes policies, and drives investments.

Our aim is to build on this success. We do this by expanding the meaning of progress to include our relationships with the rest of life on Earth and by proposing to measure and report this progress – and lack thereof – every year, for every nation in the world. We call this new measure the Nature Relationship Index (NRI).

For me, our Nature perspective marks a milestone in a journey that began in 2019, when the current director of the HDR – Pedro Conceição – asked me to help review a draft of the 2020 HDR based on my work on the Anthropocene. Thus began a conversation that deepened over lunch at a conference in Foz Coa, Portugal in April 16, 2021. How to get beyond the disempowering doom pervading efforts to address the planetary challenges of the human age? Could the focus be shifted to empowering international cooperation to shape the planet for the better – towards a better future for people and for the rest of life on Earth?

Participants at An Aspirational Approach to Planetary Futures Workshop in Oxford, April 11, 2024

We sought out the people who inspired us to create a new approach – an aspirational approach – to improving conditions for all of life on Earth. In July 2023, we first came together at a small HDR workshop in New York City. The focus on relationships with nature emerged as the central concept. And Yadvinder Malhi hosted a workshop in Oxford in April 2024 where things really came together. There, the concept of the Nature Relationship Index was born.

Thanks to the dream team, our editors at Nature, our reviewers, and many other fellow travelers, we begin the next stage of our journey to measure and promote progress towards a better future for all life on Earth.

The NRI, like all metrics of the HDR, will be produced through a rigorous international consultation process involving expert panels and consultations covering all UN geographic regions. There will be multiple opportunities to invite and integrate widespread feedback (stay tuned!). There will be no shortcuts in creating a robust index whose dimensions can be valued by people around the world – not just academics, experts and policymakers – truly everyone.

Illustration of the three dimensions of the Nature Relationship Index — Three dimensions of the Nature Relationship Index (NRI)

The HDI makes a difference because it represents people’s aspirations for better lives – and that is powerful. To succeed, the NRI needs to connect with people in the same way.

As the HDR team develops the NRI towards its potential release in the 2026 HDR, we are more humbled than ever. A Nature paper is a fine thing, but we found it remarkably hard to gain media traction with the message that aspirations – not just fears – can change the world for the better. Reaching people around the world with the message that their efforts – and their nations – can radically improve their relationships with the living world is no small challenge. But ultimately, it’s the one that really matters.

When people believe they can change the world for the better, they can and will commit to doing it. Maybe when everyone knows which nations are doing the most – and the least – to make a better future for life on Earth, that will help the message and the motivation spread and grow across the planet.

The NRI is a work in progress – please share your thoughts and keep in touch at the HDR’s NRI web page.

Download Shared Powerpoint Slides for
An Aspirational Approach to Planetary Futures (Ellis et al., 2025)