WELL-BEING AND HAPPINESS: TOWARDS A HOLISTIC APPROACH TO DEVELOP SUSTAINABLE NATION STATE

Twenty-five years after the Brundtland report on environment and development, and twenty years after the Rio Earth Summit, our world is still searching for the formulae which will support continuing advances in human development without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. With Rio+20 now fewer than three months away, today’s timely event offers an opportunity to engage in dialogue on the agenda for a sustainable future which can weave together the strands of economic development, social advancement, and environmental protection.

This “happiness” has nothing to do with the common use of that word to denote an ephemeral, passing mood - happy today or unhappy tomorrow due to some temporary external condition like praise or blame, gain or loss. Rather, it refers to the deep, abiding happiness that comes from living life in full harmony with the natural world, with our communities and fellow beings, and with our culture and spiritual heritage, - in short from feeling totally connected with our world. And yet our modern world, and particularly its economic system, promote precisely the reverse - a profound sense of alienation from the natural world and from each other. Cherishing self-interest and material gain, we destroy nature, degrade our natural and cultural heritage, disrespect indigenous knowledge, overwork, get stressed out, and no longer have time to enjoy each other’s company, let alone to contemplate and meditate on life’s deeper meaning. Myriad scholarly studies now show that massive gains in GDP and income have not made us happier. On the contrary, respected economists havedemonstrated empirically that deep social networks are a far better predictor of satisfaction and wellbeing than income and material gain.

The Royal Government of Bhutan is hosting this meeting in direct pursuance of UN General Assembly Resolution 65/309, which was initiated by Bhutan, co-sponsored by 68 countries, and adopted by consensus at the 109th Plenary Meeting on 19th July 2011. That resolution - titled “Happiness: towards a holistic approach to development” – states that happiness is a fundamental human goal and universal aspiration; that GDP by its nature does not reflect that goal; that unsustainable patterns of production and consumption impede sustainable development; and that a more inclusive, equitable and balanced approach is needed to promote sustainability, eradicate poverty, and enhance wellbeing and happiness. That was a significant milestone for Bhutan, and I take this opportunity to congratulate the Prime Minister and his Government on this impressive achievement. Today, Bhutan is putting before us a framework for a New Economic Paradigm, based on principles of happiness and wellbeing, ecological sustainability, efficient use of resources, and fair distribution. The framework has been shaped by Bhutan’s unique experience in applying the concept of Gross National Happiness which informs all its government policies. This approach integrates inclusive economic growth with strengthening communities, protecting the environment, providing universal access to health services and education, and preserving traditional culture and heritage. To help guide its policy choices, Bhutan also created a new accounting system which measures the value of the nation’s natural, human, social, and cultural wealth, and not just its material and capital assets.

At UNDP, we have long promoted human development, based on an understanding that people are the real wealth of nations. Our vision is for development which enables people to live longer, healthier lives, to be educated, to have access to a decent standard of living, and to have the freedom to choose to live lives which they value. Our approach, like Bhutan’s, balances the material and non-material aspects of wellbeing. The vital link between sustainability and happiness in the New Economic Paradigm promoted by Bhutan resonates with what we in UNDP see as the central challenge of the 21st century: achieving sustainable human development. One of the key questions before the international community is: what could our common future look like? Bhutan is providing answers to that question. I hope this will help us move closer to a common understanding of a sustainable future, and of how to build it. In order to realise the future we all want, we must build on prior work to develop the new economy in the following areas, including but not limited to:

A) Wellbeing and Happiness

i. Promoting a dynamic culture through a common but differentiated approach that respects diverse cultural traditions;

ii. Nurturing the values, wisdom, and practice of our spiritual traditions, and harmony between them;

iii. Drawing from the wisdom of traditional and indigenous values and knowledge to develop appropriate policies;

iv. Supporting the arts and the creative commons;

v. Promoting holistic life-long learning, including vital literacies required for wellbeing, such as ecological, civic, cultural, health, nutrition, science, financial, and other literacies;

vi. Empowering women, educating girls, and ensuring equality of opportunity;

vii. Improving mental and physical health by addressing the socio-economic, behavioural, spiritual, and environmental and inter-generational determinants of health, and recognising that health is a public responsibility;

viii. Supporting local economies and strong community networks;

ix. Strengthening social supports through family, community, workplace, and other relationships;

x. Supporting the voluntary and civil society sector, and nurturing good governance;

xi. Promoting vibrant, critical, creative, and responsible media;

xii. Supporting research and dialogue on the causes and conditions of happiness.

B) Ecological sustainability

i. Establishing a system for effective and equitable governance and management of the natural commons, including the atmosphere, oceans, fresh water systems, and biodiversity;

ii. Investing in sustainable infrastructure, such as renewable clean energy, energy efficiency, public transit, watershed protection measures, green public spaces, clean technology, and support for green businesses;

iii. Consuming essential non-renewables, such as fossil fuels, more slowly than we develop renewable substitutes;

iv. Creating mechanisms to reduce resource depletion, pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions to stay within basic planetary boundaries and resource limits, including taxes, cap and auction systems, and common asset trusts;

v. Dismantling incentives towards excessive materialistic consumption, including educating for sustainability and banning advertising to children;

vi. Moving towards sustainable agriculture to feed the earth’s population without destroying its biodiversity;

vii. Developing linked policies to balance population and consumption with the earth’s natural, social and economic capacity.

C) Fair distribution

i. Reducing systemic inequalities, both internationally and within nations, by improving the living standards of the poor, providing an adequate social safety net, limiting excess consumption and unearned income, and preventing private capture of the common wealth;

ii. Supporting, promoting, and providing incentives for systems of cooperative ownership and management of enterprises;

iii. Instituting fair trade systems that promote sustainable production methods and fair returns to producers;

iv. Transferring technology to enable lower-income nations to shift rapidly to sustainable production methods and suffer no loss of competitive advantage as they transition to a sustainable economy;

v. Establishing a system for effective and equitable governance and management of the social commons, including cultural inheritance, financial systems, and information systems;

vi. Creating fulfilling employment for all, which contributes to the common good, achieves better work-life balance, and nurtures healthy workplace relations.

D) Efficient Use of Resources

i. Using full-cost accounting measures to internalise externalities, value non-market assets and services, reform national accounting systems, and ensure that prices reflect actual social and environmental costs of production and distribution;

ii. Putting in place fiscal reforms that reward sustainable and wellbeing-enhancing actions and penalise unsustainable behaviours that diminish collective wellbeing, including ecological tax reforms with compensating mechanisms that avoid additional burdens on low-income groups;

iii. Implementing systems of cooperative investment in stewardship and payment for ecosystem services;

iv. Increasing financial and fiscal prudence by reducing speculation, ensuring equitable access to and responsible use of credit, and requiring that financial instruments and practices contribute to the public good;

v. Ensuring access to and sharing of the information required to move to a sustainable economy.

vi. Humanity must commit itself to strengthen and deepen the knowledge, political will, and action required to promote and sustain the wellbeing of all life, and to create a world in which every human being can pursue happiness.

And yet, despite valiant efforts made by individuals, communities, and certain nations, human society will continue to hurtle itself towards self-annihilation unless we come together and act in concert. The time has come for global action to build a new world economic system that is no longer based on the illusion that limitless growth is possible on our precious and finite planet, or that endless material gain promotes wellbeing. Instead, it will be a system that promotes harmony and respect for nature and for each other, that respects our ancient wisdom, traditions and protects our most vulnerable people as our own family, and that gives us time to live and enjoy our lives and to appreciate rather than destroy our world. It will be an economic system, in short, that is fully sustainable and that is rooted in true, abiding wellbeing and happiness.

Sustainability is the essential basis and pre-condition of such a sane economic system. But an economy exists not for mere survival but to provide the enabling conditions for human happiness and the wellbeing of all life forms. The new economy will be an economy based on a genuine vision of life’s ultimate meaning and purpose - an economy that does not cut us off from nature and community, but fosters true human potential, fulfilment, and happiness.

Futher enquiry about this article kindly contact :

 

DR. AZMIZAM ABDUL RASHID
 Research and Development Division,
 Federal Department of Town and Country Planning,
 Ministry of Housing and Local Government,
 Unit No. 50-12-2B, & 50-13-1, Wisma UOA Damansara,
 No. 50, Jalan Dungun, Damansara Heights,
 50490 Kuala Lumpur,
 Malaysia
 email address : azmizam@townplan.gov.my

Sources :

a. `What is the meaning of GNH? Statement by Honorable Jigmi Y. Thinley, Prime Minister Of Bhutan at the 2nd Int’l GNH Conference, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada, June 2005: http://www.gpiatlantic.org/conference/proceedings/thinley.htm.
b. “An Introduction to GNH” By Karma Ura, November 2009 ; http://www.schumachercollege.org.uk/learning--‐resources/an--‐introduction--‐to--‐gnh--‐
gross--‐national--‐happiness
c. “Time for a Sustainable Economic Paradigm”(Input for the Draft Outcome Document for
Rio+20) by the Royal Government of Bhutan; http://www.uncsd2012.org/rio20/content/documents/690Bhutan.pdf
d. Opening Address by the Honorable Prime Minister at the Workshop on “Educating for Gross National Happiness”, 7 December, 2009, Thimphu, Bhutan ; http://www.cabinet.gov.bt/images/stories/speech/gnh_workshop.pdf
e. Keynote Address by the Honorable Prime Minister at the Conference of the Junior Chamber Of Commerce of Japan, 29 August, 2009, Fukuoka, Japan http://www.cabinet.gov.bt/images/stories/speech/japanaddress.pdf
f. “The University as an Instrument of Gross National Happiness – Some Reflections” by Thakur S. Powdyel ;http://www.gpiatlantic.org/conference/papers/powdyel.pdf