Wikiprogress.org:Variables Happy Planet Index

From Wikiprogress.org

Variable Description

The HPI was launched in July 2006 as a radical departure from our current obsession with GDP. Working from first principles, the report identified health and a positive experience of life as universal human goals, and the natural resources that our human systems depend upon as fundamental inputs. A successful society is one that can support good lives that don’t cost the Earth. The HPI measures progress towards this target – the ecological efficiency with which happy and healthy lives are supported.^[1].

HPI 2.0 has been calculated with new improved data sets for 143 countries, covering 99 per cent of the world’s population. Scores range from 0 to 100 – with high scores only achievable by meeting all three targets embodied in the index:

• High life expectancy.
• High life satisfaction.
• Low ecological footprint.

Happy Planet Index Overview

Whilst the HPI confirms that the countries where people enjoy the happiest and healthiest lives are mostly richer developed countries, it shows the unsustainable ecological price we pay. It also reveals some notable exceptions – less wealthy countries, with significantly smaller ecological footprints per head, having high levels of life expectancy and life satisfaction. In other words, it shows that a good life is possible without costing the Earth.

The following table shows the HPI ranking for 2009^[2].

See also

• Happy Planet Index
• The new economics foundation

References

1. ↑ nef: The Happy Planet Index 2.0 Report
2. ↑ Happy Planet Index: Global HPI