About the Happy Planet IndexThe index is an efficiency measure, it ranks countries on how many long and happy lives they produce per unit of environmental input. The 2012 HPI report ranks 151 countries and is the third time the index has been published.The HPI is a clear and meaningful barometer of how well a nation is doing. This is its key value. But although the HPI measures a lot, it does not measure everything. Countries that do well on the HPI suffer many problems and many high-ranking countries are tainted by important human rights issues. And though one would expect the infringement of rights to negatively impact on the well-being of some people in the country, the HPI does not set out to directly measure those rights. Furthermore, because it is likely that people directly affected by extreme human rights abuses represent a minority, the population average well-being score may not fully reflect this harm. Because of this, we do not recommend that the HPI be the only thing that countries measure. Blind pursuit of a single objective, whilst disregarding the means to achieving it, is dangerous. nef has developed a measurement framework of which HPI is a component alongside other measures such as economic performance and environmental pressure.Happy Planet IndexHPIThe Happy Planet Index (HPI) is the leading global measure of sustainable well-being.Nic MarksThe Happy Planet Index was created by Nic Marks, Founder of the Centre for Well-being at nef (the new economics foundation), and first published in July 2006. Its message resonated with hundreds of thousands of people around the world – within two days of its launch, the report was downloaded and read in 185 countries worldwide.Sustainable well-being for all.Measures what matters: the extent to which countries deliver long, happy, sustainable lives for the people that live in them.Happy, Healthy LivesMost measures of national progress are actually just measures of economic activity; how much we are producing or consuming. By only using indicators like GDP to measure success we are not accounting for what really matters, producing happy lives people now and in the future. The HPI puts current and future well-being at the heart of measurement. It frames the development of each country in the context of real environmental limits. In doing so it tells us what we instinctively know to be true – that progress is not just about wealth. It shows that while the challenges faced by rich resource-intensive nations and those with high levels of poverty and deprivation may be very different, the end goal is the same: to produce happy, healthy lives now and in the future. The HPI demonstrates that the dominant Western model of development is not sustainable and we need to find other development paths towards sustainable well-being.Experienced Well-BeingAsk respondents to imagine a ladder, where 0 represents the worst possible life and 10 the best possible life, and report the step of the ladder they feel they currently stand on.1If you want to know how well someone’s life is going, your best bet is to ask them directly. In this year’s HPI, experienced well-being is assessed using a question called the ‘Ladder of Life’ from the Gallup World Poll. This asks respondents to imagine a ladder, where 0 represents the worst possible life and 10 the best possible life, and report the step of the ladder they feel they currently stand on.Life ExpectancyMeasure life expectancy.2Alongside experienced well-being, the HPI includes a universally important measure of health – life expectancy. We used life expectancy data from the 2011 UNDP Human Development Report,Ecological FootprintMeasure the per capita amount of land required to sustain a country’s consumption patterns.3The HPI uses the Ecological Footprint promoted by the environmental charity WWF as a measure of resource consumption. It is a per capita measure of the amount of land required to sustain a country’s consumption patterns, measured in terms of global hectares (g ha) which represent a hectare of land with average productive biocapacity.Happy Planet CharterLaunch the Happy Planet Charter.4Happy Planet Charter SignersPeople and organisations who have signed the charter include: Friends of the EarthSoil Association10:10CompassThe Well-being InstituteUniversity of CambridgeAction for HappinessLa Fabrique SpinozaNational Union of StudentsProgressioStakeholder ForumPractical ActioniiedWorld Development Movementpeople & planetgreen economy coalitionthe green new deal grouponehundredmonths.orgThe Energy and Resources Institute, EuropeNew Economics Forum BudapestSERIone worldwastewatchMedActthe Gaia foundationBirdLife InternationalBill McKibbenAnthony SeldonJonathan PorrittCaroline Lucas, MPJoan Ruddock, MPJo Swinson, MPGiles FraserCommentator and Priest in charge at St. Mary's NewingtonWe need new measures of human progress. The Happy Planet Index offers us an excellent example of how such measures work in practice. It shows that while the challenges faced by rich resource-intensive nations and those with high levels of poverty and deprivation may be very different, the end goal is the same: long and happy lives that don’t cost the earth. We must balance the prominence currently given to GDP with those measures that take seriously the challenges we face in the 21st century: creating economies that deliver sustainable well-being for all. By signing this charter we:New MeasuresCall on governments to adopt new measures of human progress that put the goal of delivering sustainable well-being for all at the heart of societal and economic decision-making.4.1Political WillResolve to build the political will needed across society to fully establish these better measures of human progress by working with partner organisations.4.2IndicatorCall on the United Nations to develop an indicator as part of the post-2015 framework that, like the Happy Planet Index, measures progress towards the key goal for a better future: sustainable well-being for all.4.3United Nations2013-09-28http://www.happyplanetindex.org/about/OwenAmburOwen.Ambur@verizon.net