The Not Necessarily Happy Planet Index

Does your country do the best job of efficiently converting natural resources into long and happy lives for its inhabitants? If you live in Costa Rica, then the answer is yes. The New Economics Foundation (NEF) has just released its Happy Planet Index 2.0, a report outlining "the ecological efficiency with which human well-being is delivered around the world." According to NEF, their data shows that high levels of resource consumption do not necessarily convert to high levels of well-being, and that "a good life is possible without costing the earth." The report offers data for 143 countries, focusing on the target criteria of life expectancy, life satisfaction, and ecological footprint for each country and its inhabitants.

With the highest life satisfaction in the world, the second-highest life expectancy in the world (Canada is highest), and a footprint of 2.3 hectares, Costa Rica scored the highest. In fact nearly all the top 10 countries in the survey are Latin American. The bottom 10 scores are all from sub-Saharan African countries (Zimbabwe is at the bottom), while most of the rich, most developed nations hover around the middle. The. U.S.? It ranks at 114th place (out of 143 countries).

The report noted that no country yet "successfully achieves the three goals of high life satisfaction, high life expectancy and one-planet living."

You can download & read the complete report (pdf).


~ Marsha



Image courtesy of hickoryhollow113 via Creative Commons.