This study examines the relationship between environmental risks and the growth rate of the Human Development Index (HDI) across 41 selected developed countries over the 2010–2019 period. To account for structural differences in food trade, the sample is divided into net food-exporting and net food-importing countries. The model is estimated using Panel Generalized Least Squares (PGLS) with Panel-Corrected Standard Errors (PCSE). The results indicate that higher growth in the disease burden attributable to climate-related hazards (high and low temperatures) and environmental pollution (ambient particulate matter and ozone) is significantly associated with lower HDI growth. Likewise, the growth of welfare costs associated with premature deaths shows a significant negative association with HDI growth, with stronger effects observed in net food-exporting countries than in net food-importing countries, and in importers than in the full sample. In contrast, the adverse association between the disease burden and HDI growth is strongest for the full sample of developed countries, followed by net food exporters and net food importers, suggesting heterogeneous transmission mechanisms across different economic structures. Overall, the findings indicate that the relationship between environmental risks and human development depends on countries' structural characteristics, institutional capacity, and position in food trade. Therefore, recycling environmental tax revenues, promoting low-carbon technologies, strengthening health systems, implementing early-warning systems, supporting climate-resilient agriculture in exporting countries, and diversifying food supply sources in importing countries may enhance the resilience of human development to climate and environmental shocks.