Why we need it
People across the world strive towards the same ultimate goal: living a good life. Different cultures pursue this goal in many different ways. However, they share one inescapable characteristic, namely a reliance on the resources of the planet to support their activities.
There is massive disparity in the quantity of planetary resources consumed per head of population in different countries. According to the orthodox model of development, higher levels of consumption are the route to a better quality of life. Yet, because we only have one planet, resources are sustainable only if the rate of consumption is less than the rate at which they can be replenished or repaired. Many of the earth’s resources that have a slow rate of repair are, in effect, finite. The widespread call for ‘sustainable development’ amounts to a recognition that the current model of development is unsustainable. We are already using the planet’s resources faster than they can be replaced.
Applying the HPI to Europe allows us to assess whether the gains in well-being achieved by some of the world’s richest nations justifies the massive additional strain that these countries place on the environment. And, as the European Happy Planet Index reveals, many nations in Europe now require a vast amount of planetary resource consumption merely to maintain standards of experienced well-being that are only marginally, if at all, higher than they were 40 years ago. Meanwhile, as the rate of consumption grows unabated, so do the costs to the planet.
But new research in contained the European Happy Planet Index report also gives reason for hope. At the launch of the first Happy Planet Report in 2006, a web-based survey was conducted containing questions about lifestyle – consumption patterns, diet, health, family history – as well as subjective life satisfaction. Using these data, estimates of footprint and life expectancy could be calculated, giving a ‘personal HPI’.
Some 34,000 people in Europe completed the survey. The results showed that, whilst as a whole, Europe is heading in the wrong direction, 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. The message to politicians is that people in Europe are just as likely to lead satisfied lives whether their levels of consumption are within the earth’s limits or way beyond them and therefore they should not be afraid of policies to reduce demand.
These data do not support an unappealing choice between ‘business as usual’ for Europe at the expense of the planet and future generations, or compromised well-being to minimise environmental degradation. In fact, they suggest that well-being has little to do with consumption; which, in turn, allows for the possibility that footprint could be reduced significantly without leading to widespread loss in well-being.