Britain is worse at translating its use of natural resources into long and happy lives for its people than two-thirds of its European counterparts, an alternative economics study has revealed. It is also burning up more fossil fuels for less "wellbeing" than it did 40 years ago.
The New Economics Foundation (NEF), a think-tank, today publishes a Happy Planet Index that ranks European countries according to a combination of life expectancy, life satisfaction and carbon footprint. It shows no link between the amount of resources a country consumes per head and the wellbeing of its population.
The european happy planet index, happy Iceland leaves Britain out in the cold
Britain languishes at 21st out of 30 countries on NEF's measure, because it has one of the highest per capita carbon footprints, behind only Luxembourg, Estonia and Finland, but only mid-table scores for both life expectancy and satisfaction.
Iceland tops the Happy Planet index for Europe thanks to abundant renewable natural resources and high-ranking scores on the two happiness measures. Northern European countries such as Denmark and Sweden are highly efficient at treading lightly but happily on Earth.
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