Professor Susan Clayton co-authors new paper on aspirational planetary futures

Susan Clayton, Whitmore-Williams Professor of Psychology at The College of Wooster, recently co-authored a new paper in Nature titled “An Aspirational Approach to Planetary Futures.” The paper is the result of a multiyear international collaboration through the United Nations Development Programme, with lead author Erle C. Ellis, professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

The team calls for the creation of a Nature Relationship Index (NRI) to sit alongside the Human Development Index (HDI), which offers a summary measurement of life expectancy, education, and standard of living to assess the development of a country beyond economic growth alone. The NRI aims to track how countries are improving human relationships with the rest of the living world, shifting humanity’s focus from avoiding environmental harm to fostering aspirational, positive relationships with nature. The NRI will debut in the 2026 United Nations Development Programme Human Development Report.

“Rather than focusing on what we’re doing wrong, this paper proposes a global framework that measures how well people and nature are thriving together,” said Clayton. She explained that the index will provide a globally accepted, values-based metric to guide and celebrate progress toward more sustainable futures. Measurable goals for progress might include a thriving and accessible nature (national parks, assessment of ecosystem health, urban greenness), using natural resources responsibly (lower carbon dioxide emissions, less deforestation/less agricultural land use per person), and protecting ecosystems (legal protection for environmental resources).

The paper authors hope the use of the NRI will incentivize progress for participating countries. Though each country will feel differently about how they’re developing, the proposed measurements allow them to compare themselves to other countries and set goals for improvement. Clayton added, “The existing HDI has affected governmental investments, and a high rating can attract investment and tourism. We hope that the same would be true for the NRI.”

Posted in News on July 10, 2025.