Costa Rica: World's Greenest, Happiest Country

According to a new list that ranks nations by combining measures of their ecological footprint with the happiness of their citizens, Costa Rica is the greenest and happiest country in the world. The top 10 is dominated by countries from Latin America, while African countries bulk out the bottom of the table. The United States features in the 114^th slot in the table. The Happy Planet Index (HPI), calculated by the New Economics Foundation (NEF), measures how much of the Earth's resources nations use and how long and happy a life their citizens enjoy as a result. The HPI shows, for example, that fast-growing economies such as the US, China and India were all greener and happier 20 years ago than they are today. It suggests that the path having been followed by us is, without exception, unable to deliver all three goals: high life satisfaction, high life expectancy and 'one-planet living'. Instead we need a new development model that delivers good lives that do not cost the Earth for all. Costa Ricans top the list because they report the highest life satisfaction in the world; they live slightly longer than Americans, yet have an ecological footprint that is less than a quarter the size. The country only narrowly fails to achieve the goal of what NEF calls 'one-planet living': consuming its fair share of the Earth's natural resources. The report says the differences between nations show that it is possible to live long, happy lives with much smaller ecological footprints than the highest-consuming nations. The new HPI also provides the first ever analysis of trends over time for what are supposedly the world's most developed nations, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). OECD nations' HPI scores plummeted between 1960 and the late 1970s. The report sets out a 'Happy Planet Charter' calling for an unprecedented collective global effort to develop a 'new narrative' of human progress, encourage good lives that don't cost the earth and reduce consumption in the highest-consuming nations. which is the biggest barrier to sustainable wellbeing.

Source: www.guardian.co.uk, 4^th July 2009