Tunisia ranked 29th in the world by NEF’s ''Happy Planet Index''

Tunisia ranked 29th in the world by NEF’s ''Happy Planet Index'': "Tunisia ranked 29th in the world by NEF’s ''Happy Planet Index''
African Manager

A report recently published by the New Economics Foundation (NEF) an NGO set up in the University of Maryland in the US, ranks Tunisia 29 th out of 143 countries in the world, Tunisia Online reports.

The study which synthesizes data on nations’ consumption, quality of life, health, feeling of well being as well as their ecological foot print, has resulted in the setting up of an index known as the Happy Planet Index (HPI).

The NEF which rejects the current emphasis on GDP growth, argues that a “successful society is one that can support good lives that don’t cost the earth”.

The report which covers 99% of the globe’s population attributes scores from 0 to 100, with high scores only achievable by meeting the three targets embodied in the index, high life expectancy, high life satisfaction and low ecological footprint.

Tunisia is credited by the report with a life expectancy of 73,5 years, a life satisfaction of 5,9 and an ecological footprint of 1,8. With a score of 54,3 out a possible 100, Tunisia does better than Switzerland (48,1), the United Kingdom (43,3), and South Africa (29,7).

In spite of a life expectancy of 77, 9 years, the United States come in 114 th position just after Madagascar, due to a strong consumption in food, transport and heating resources. The report notes that an average American needs 9,4 hectares of land to live on ; four times more than the planet can support ‘an average of 2,1 hectares per inhabitant.

The report ranks Costa Rica 1 st with an HPI of 76,1, it is followed by the Dominican Republic(71,1) and Jamaica (70,1).By comparison, France is credited by the report with an HPI of 43,9 and is ranked 71 th in the world.

In its executive summary the report writes that “in an age of uncertainty, society globally needs a new compass to set it on the path of real progress. The Happy Planet Index (HPI) provides that compass by measuring what truly matters to us-our well being in terms of long, happy, and meaningful lives- and what matters to the planet- our rate of resource consumption”.

According to the Tunisian Foreign Investment Promotion Agency (FIPA), the current year will register a drop in foreign direct investment (FDI) compared to last year: 1,080 million euros compared to 1,944. The figures provided by the FIPA are based on 'investment intents' announced in 2008 (1,100 million euros) and on projects currently in the making or under study. During the first semester of 2009, according to FIPA, foreign investments amounted to 884.6 million dinars (around 475 million euros)."