The data is part of the “Happy Planet Index” (HPI), a document produced by the German organization “Hot or Cool Institute”, according to which excessive consumption is harming the planet and is not helping people.
The report indicates that governments need to start measuring what matters: the health and well-being of people and the planet.
The HPI combines data on well-being, life expectancy and carbon footprint to provide a snapshot of how well countries are doing in providing their citizens with healthy, happy and dignified lives without burdening the planet.
The document analyzes the efficiency with which countries are managing their resources to provide people with what is really important, health and well-being.
In the index now released, the countries in first place are Vanuatu, Sweden, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Portugal comes in 11th place, with a good score in terms of life expectancy and well-being, but poor in terms of carbon footprint.
In the list, no country obtains a “good” score in the three components of the HPI. The report’s authors note that the HPI leaders are those countries capable of providing citizens with good standards of health and well-being while limiting average ‘per capita’ carbon.
There are countries with the same level of environmental impact but which differ substantially in average life expectancy and well-being. Botswana and the Netherlands have the same carbon footprint but the Netherlands is in 14th place and Botswana in 146th.
Still according to the study of the 10 countries with the highest GDP, six have HPI scores below average, so “the search for an increasingly higher GDP does not lead to what really matters, well-being within environmental limits” .
“In many rich countries, high levels of consumption and production are contributing to ecological collapse without providing health or happiness for their citizens,” the document adds.
In the United States, the richest 10% have an average carbon footprint four times greater than the average for the rest of the population. Their well-being results are higher but only marginally, not four times higher than those of the rest of the population.
The “Hot or Cool Institute” aims to equip organizations, policymakers and communities with data for informed decisions for a sustainable and prosperous future, placing people and science at the center of the transition to sustainability.
