The Sustainable Development Solution Network brought out the World Happiness Report 2013 for the UN. This report authored by authored by Jeffrey Sachs among others, sees happiness as an aspiration of every human being which can also be measured by social progress. ......If we take another look at the graph presented by the World Happiness Report 2013, we shall see that the level of happiness in North America and Western Europe is quite high and is significantly low in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. A cause for this is economic exploitation of resources. Countries which have learnt how to extract the benefits of nature have succeeded in making their citizens happy.

1. Does Economic Exploitation Of
Nature Compromise The
Community’s Happiness and Well-
being?
Samyak Shami
Billabong High International School,
Bhopal, India
Subject code: 9766
Candidate Number: 0005
Centre Number: IN902
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2. Happiness and GDP
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The Economist, Feb 24th 2012

3. Life Expectancy 2012: (years)
81.2
83.3 84.9
72.9
76.5 77.3
68.0 68.2
76.4
78.6
80.6
68.7
73.9
69.1
64.5
67.6
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
70.0
80.0
90.0
US Germany Switzerland World China Brazil India Bhutan
Female
Male
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4. Mortality under 5 years age: 2013
(per 1,000 births)
4
7.1
4.0 4.3
47.2
13.6
14.5
55.0
38.0
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
US Germany Switzerland World China Brazil India Bhutan

5. Happiness and economic
growth
 “Large, fast-growing emerging markets do not share
rich industrialised countries' pessimism.”
 “A tenet of political science is that happiness levels
rise with wealth and then plateau, usually when a
country's national income per head reaches around
$25,000 a year. “The richer a country gets,” argued
Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett in “The Spirit
Level”, an influential book of 2009, “the less getting
still richer adds to the population's happiness.” ”
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The Economist, Measures of well-being Chilled out, Feb 25th 2012

6. Document 6
‘Taking happiness
seriously’
“Happiness seems far too subjective, too vague, to serve
as a touchstone for a nation’s goals, much less its policy
content……the evidence is changing this view rapidly.”
……. Jeffrey Sachs, The World Happiness Report, 2012
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7. Level and Decomposition of Happiness by
Regions: 2010-12
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World Happiness Report: 201

8. Sustainable Equilibrium
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9. Question
Does Economic Exploitation Of Nature Compromise
The Community’s Happiness and Well-being?
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10. Biodiversity and
Wilderness
 “We need to invest much more in raising awareness of
the inherent value of forests, and biodiversity in
general, particularly through its contribution to our
cultural and psychological well being.”
Jaboury Ghazoul, Mongabay, 8th Sept 2009
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11. Electric Power Consumption: 2011
(kWh per capita)
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13,246.3
7,081.0
7,928.3
3,045.0
3,298.0
2,438.0
684.1
0.0
2,000.0
4,000.0
6,000.0
8,000.0
10,000.0
12,000.0
14,000.0
US Germany Switzerland World China Brazil India

12. CO2 Emissions: 2010
(metric tons per capita)
17.6
9.1
5.0 4.9
6.2
2.2
1.7
0.7
0.0
2.0
4.0
6.0
8.0
10.0
12.0
14.0
16.0
18.0
20.0
US Germany Switzerland World China Brazil India Bhutan
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13. Carbon markets
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Source: The Economist, Carbon Markets:
Complete Disaster in the Making, Sept 5th

14. What should we strive for
 “If (resources) can be extracted without reducing the
services those wildernesses provide,…. there is no
further reason not to do so. Being untouched is not, in
itself, an attribute worth valuing above all others.”
Oliver Morton, The Economist, October 2011
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15. Conclusion
 Richer countries are happier.
 Resources should be extracted in a responsible and
sustainable manner.
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16. Thank You
Samyak Shami
Billabong High International School,
Bhopal, India
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