Costa Rica, a country with less than 5 million people between Panama and Nicaragua, was the top overall ranking of the combination of long and happy life with limited environmental degradation.

The country has a beautiful mixture inside a large diversity of species and has long been rid of its army. The merger of the ministries of energy and environment reversed the deforestation and helped the country produce 99% of its energy from renewable sources. It also presented high notes, compared to other developing countries in research on poverty, free press and democracy.

The Happy Planet Index (”Why a good life need don’t cost the earth”) published on Friday by the New Economics Foundation, based in the UK, combines measures of life expectancy, happiness and ecological footprint to assess the sustainability of growth in 143 countries.

But the Latin Americans make many points, the report suggests, due to non-material aspirations and strong social capital among friends and relatives.

The poor performance of the developed world can also lead some to doubt in the Western about the value of the report.

Western countries have long life expectancy and people are reasonably happy, but the countries have low ranking due to its ecological weakness, reflecting the high level of consumption.

The challenge for the West, says the report, is still raising the revenue but find a life more meaningful and stronger social ties.

Critics say these measurements and indices that are based on arbitrary data and calculations, but most appreciated its contribution to the discussion of policies.

Via: New Economics.