European Happy Planet Index

European Happy Planet Index

The UK-based New Economics Foundation (NEF) recently published the European Happy Planet Index, the outcome of European-wide research that showed that Europe is less efficient now at delivering human well-being than it was 40 years ago. The Index highlights the carbon efficiency with which 30 European nations produce long, happy lives for their citizens, and demonstrates a very different picture of the health and wealth of European nations. Published in association with Friends of the Earth, NEF's index also reveals that the UK comes a poor 21st in the league of 30 countries; that Europe as a whole has become less efficient, not more, in translating fossil fuel use into relatively long and happy lives; and that across Europe people report comparable levels of well-being whether their lifestyles imply the need for the resources of six and a half, or just one planet like Earth. Find out more from the NEF web site: www.neweconomics.org