Member Article

UK 108th happiest place on Earth

The happiest place on Earth is the south Pacific island of Vanuatu, according to New Economic Foundation (nef) Happy Planet Index. The UK is 108th on the list, below Libya and above Laos but above the USA, which comes in at 150.The index, published in association with Friends of the Earth, combines environmental impact with well-being to measure the environmental efficiency with which countries provide long and happy lives. Andrew Simms, nef’s Policy Director said: “We are used to comparing countries in terms of crude riches or what they trade. There are international league tables for performance on issues from corruption to sporting success. But nef’s Happy Planet Index measures something much more fundamental. It addresses the relative success or failure of countries in giving their citizens a good life, whilst respecting the environmental resource limits on which all our lives depend. The order of nations that emerges may seem counter-intuitive. But this is because, to a large degree, policy makers have been led astray by abstract mathematical models of the economy that bear little relation to the real world.” Central America is the region with the highest average score in the Index: The region combines relatively good life expectancy (an average of 70 years) and high life satisfaction with an ecological footprint below its globally equitable share. Central America has had a notorious history of conflict and political instability, but the last 15 years have been relatively peaceful, which perhaps, with traditionally high levels of community engagement, explain its success. Self appointed ‘world leaders’ – the G8 - score badly in the Index: the UK is 108th, Italy 66th, Germany 81st, Japan 95th, Canada 111th, France 129th, United States 150th and Russia 172nd. “The UKeconomy hoovers up vast quantities of the world’s scarce resources, yet British people are no happier than Colombians or Guyanese, who use far fewer, says Simon Bullock, Friends of the Earth’s economics co-ordinator. “The current crude focus on GDPis outdated, destructive and doesn’t deliver a better quality of life. The UKeconomy must get much smarter and greener.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .