Costa Rica tops good life survey
By Simon Briscoe in London
Published: July 4 2009 05:04 | Last updated: July 4 2009 05:04
Costa Rica, the country of fewer than 5m people sandwiched between Panama and Nicaragua, tops a new global ranking for combining a happy and long life with limited environmental degradation.
The country blends beautiful countryside, a great diversity of species and has long since got rid of its army. The merger of its energy and environment ministries has reversed deforestation and helped it produce 99 per cent of its energy from renewable sources. It has also scored highly, relative to other developing countries, in surveys of poverty, press freedom and democracy.
The Happy Planet Index, “Why good lives don’t have to cost the earth”, published on Saturday by the UK-based new economics foundation, combines measures of life expectancy, happiness and ecological footprint to assess the sustainability of growth in 143 countries.
That the top 10 in the list of “greenest and happiest” nations is dominated by Latin America might raise a few eyebrows, as the region is better known in the western imagination for its slums, inequality and coups. Zimbabwe languishes at the bottom along with a dozen other south, east and central African countries.
But the Latin Americans score highly, the report suggests, due to non-material aspirations and strong social capital among friends and relatives. The grim performance of the developed world might also prompt some westerners to cast doubt over the value of the report. Among the rich nations, the highest placed country is the Netherlands – but it manages only 43rd.
The UK languishes midway down the table – 74th, behind Germany, Italy and France but ahead of Japan and Ireland. The US fares particularly poorly, in 114th place. The western countries have long life expectancy and people are reasonably happy, but the countries suffer in the rankings due to their ecological footprint, reflecting high levels of consumption.
The challenge for the west, the report says, is not to keep increasing incomes but to aim for more meaningful lives and stronger social ties. That might be a leap too far in the near term but the index is released when policymakers are exploring broader measures of progress rather than a desire to boost growth. French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s “Commission on the measurement of economic performance and social progress” is due to report soon.
Critics of such measures and summary indices say they are based on arbitrary data and calculations but most welcome their contribution to the policy debate.
“HPI is one of the several attempts to go ‘beyond GDP’ and to bring attention to important aspects of our life,” Enrico Giovannini, chief statistician at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, said. But, he added, “It is impossible to capture in a single indicator the complexity of our society.”
Source: The Financial Times Limited 2009
Bienvenidos a Costa Rica,
I need to point some facts about where I live, Costa Ricans are happy just like any poor person feels anywhere else on the planet, the phrase Pura Vida has never really been part of our culture, this comes about with the tourism growth during the early 80’s. It’s a simple phrase that we some how developed because we do not oppose the enactment of so many draconian laws and regulations.
The government issues a new law: all must now increase their tax payments to a 90%, the best we could muster “Pura Vida”, it’s a phrase more like some that know’s they’re about to be executed but there’s nothing they can do so there for “Pura Vida”.
The premise of a 99% of the energy comes from renewable sources is completely erroneous, I ask you for the percentage of alternative fuel vehicles. The real Costa Ricans have to get tires and spare parts on loans from friends and family members and if they have to, rent what’s required by RITEVE to pass inspection, with over a 150 safety points.
We pollute because we’re poor just like other people around the world, this is not an eco-friendly paradise, over 50% of the population still burns or just throw the trash out the door with no hesitation.
“But the Latin Americans score highly, the report suggests, due to non-material aspirations and strong social capital among friends and relatives”, we do not aspire simply because we are poor, a refrigerator cost with dimensions of 4′ H x 2.5′ W, cost upwards of $700.00 and we are not talking GE, LG, etc., something worth next to nothing. IS NOT THAT WE DO NOT ASPIRE WE SIMPLY CANNOT AFFORD TO ASPIRE.
The complexity of our society is simple: we’re greedy little creatures, and even hell would be a good vacationing spot, if you don’t get to explore what makes such a wonderfully warm and cozy place so especial. We need to ask only the marginalized, how much does a kilogram of rice cost, and how much the average person earns in this country.
Monthly food bill for two people alone can be up to $700.00, now include water, power, phone and gas for cooking etc. HPI, GDP and NEF, I say to this “PURA VIDA”.
Armando Escobar.