Where is the “happiest place on earth ?” Disneyworld claims it is and, though it is a great place to enjoy once in a while, the most satisfying place to live in the world is officially tiny Costa Rica, winner of the Happy Planet Index.
The Index measures three things: high life expectancy, high life satisfaction, and a low ecological footprint. 143 countries were rated, representing 99 per cent of the world’s population, and Costa Rica came out on top—by a lot.
The Index asked :1. What is a country’s life expectancy ( premise: it is better to live longer than die young)? 2. How satisfied are a country’s people with the quality of their life (premise: living longer but miserably is not very satisfying)? and 3. What is the cost to the planet (premise: sustainable development is better than exhausting resources)?
Most of us assume that the richest, most developed countries should be at the top but it just is not so. In fact, the developed nations fall somewhere in the middle. Great Britain comes in at at 74th place and the U.S. is way back in 114th place.
Particularly dramatic is the difference between Costa Rica and the USA. Costa Ricans (who have universal health care provided at almost no cost) live slightly longer than Americans, and report greatly higher levels of satisfaction of their life (think Pura Vida!), but have a carbon footprint less than a quarter the size of the U.S.
It is no accident that Costa Rica is at the top of the rankings The country is committed to sustainable development. While the Western world, China and India are committed to relying upon nonrenewable, nonsustainable resources (think oil) that are exhausting the planet’s resources and contributing to serious global pollution and warming, 99% of Costa Rica’s energy is completely renewable and sustainable. As developed countries dither about how to address power needs and meet the challenges of pollution and global warming, tiny Costa Rica has taken action. More than two decades ago, at a time when so many other countries were cutting and burning their forests, Costa Rica decided to go the opposite direction and now there are 20% more forested areas. Presciently, it has long denied oil drilling off its shores, choosing sustainability over exhaustion. And, in 2007 it became the first country to commit to being completely carbon neutral by 2021.
Costa Rica’s per capita income is only a fraction of that of the United States and other western countries but its ranking at number 1 in all the world is a model to emulate.
Writer Victor Krumm posts from his home in Costa Rica. Go to his very popular website about Costa Rica Vacations and be sure to check out the spectacular Seven Wonders of Costa Rica
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Costa Rica: Model For World Happiness?
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