The New Economics Foundation tells us that “as the G8 prepare to meet in Italy this week, the second global ranking of the ecological efficiency with which the world’s nations deliver long and happy lives for the people who live there – the ‘Happy Planet Index‘ – reveals a surprising picture of the relative wealth and progress of nations.”
The Happy Planet Index 2.0: “Why good lives don’t have to cost the earth” shows that Costa Rica scores number one at the top of the Happy Planet Index 2.0 as the ‘greenest and happiest’ country with Latin America toping the Index overall. Out of 143 nations surveyed, the USA ranks 114th and the UK 74th.
Nic Marks, founder of the centre for well-being at nef explains that:
“As the world faces the triple crunch of deep financial crisis, accelerating climate change and the looming peak in oil production we desperately need a new compass to guide us. Following the siren’s song of economic growth has delivered only marginal benefits to the World’s poorest whilst undermining the basis of their livelihoods. What’s more, it hasn’t notably improved the well-being of those who were already rich, or even provided economic stability. Now we must use the Happy Planet Index to break the spell and chart a new course for a high well-being low-carbon economy before our high-consuming lifestyles plunge us into the chaos of irreversible climate change”
The new report, published on July 4th, explains these results discussed in further detail, and the data is free to be examined in the Explore section of the HPI website.
Image Source: Happy Planet Index
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Lucille Chi
Lucy Chi loves good green design, ethical fashion, environmental art and education, renewables, holistic healing and more. She has been dedicating her energies toward finding and drawing attention to all the ways in which products, companies, and industries are moving toward creating a more sustainable world on the global scale, as well as the way individuals are moving toward living sustainably, and healing at the personal level. Sustainability studies: PresidioMBA.org & B.S. Cornell University, College of Human Ecology, Dept. of Textiles and Fiber Science. Contact: lucillechi (at) gmail.com
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