THE HEALTHIEST, HAPPIEST COUNTRIES - U.S. COMES IN 114 OUT OF 143
4 July 2009
A child in Costa Rica, which came top for quality of life and eco-friendliness.
Where are the best places to lead a healthy, happy and sustainable life? Find out with the Happy Planet Index.
The index measures well-being in terms of long, happy and meaningful lives.
But it also studies what matters to the planet — our rate of resource consumption.
Rich, developed nations fare poorly. The highest placed Western nation is the Netherlands — managing only 43rd out of 143.
The United States fares particularly poorly, in 114th place out of 143.
And the United Kingdom languishes midway down the table at 74th, well behind Germany, Italy and France.
Britain is just pipped by Georgia and Slovakia, but ahead of Japan and Ireland.
At the top of the list is Costa Rica.
The New Economics Foundation, which compiled the index, said Costa Rica is where you should be if you want to live the longest, happiest and greenest life.
People there have the highest life satisfaction in the world and the second-highest average life expectancy of the Americas, second only to Canada.
The country has such a small ecological footprint it only narrowly misses the goal of “one-planet living”, which is a country consuming its fair share of the Earth’s natural resources.
It also turns out that despite huge levels of growth and development, both China and India were greener and happier 20 years ago.
Globally, we are still far from achieving good lives within the Earth’s finite resource limits.
And, although there are signs of hope, overall we are still heading in the wrong direction.
Life satisfaction and life expectancy combined have increased 15% over the 45-year period between 1961 and 2005.
But it has come at an earth-shattering cost — an increase in ecological footprint per head of 72%.
Happy Planet Index Top Ten
1. Costa Rica
2. Dominian Republic
3. Jamaica
4. Guetamala
5. Vietnam
6. Colombia
7. Cuba
8. El Salvador
9. Brazil
10. Honduras
Countries were measured on life expectancy, life satisfaction and carbon footprint.
See Related: HEALTH CARE
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE AND NEWS MEDIA ARE AFRAID TO CONFRONT ISLAM - SAN FRANCISCO SENTINEL OPINION
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