From GPD to GNHOriginally Posted by marcel
Introduction: THE NEED for a NEW ECONOMIC PARADIGM
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The world is desperately seeking change. People sense that important social, economic and environmental shifts are afoot. There are now over seven billion people on the planet. Recent decades have brought extraordinary improvements in life expectancy the world over. Technology is helping us to communicate, organise and learn on a global scale.
Emerging economies are rising in all continents and the ‘global middle class’ is larger than ever before.
Yet inequality between the world’s rich and poor continues to grow, both between and within countries. Extreme weather events are more frequent and severe, and adapting to climate change is now a reality.
Demand for natural resources is increasing and contributing to the degradation of the natural environment. Food and oil prices have set new records and acute debt crises have cascaded through the global economy.
While current trends means that we have no choice but to act, there is much to gain by doing so. Change and innovation, through the testing and advancement of new models, have been a key determinant in human advancement. Nicolas Sarkozy, the former President of france, noted that the global financial and European debt crisis “doesn’t only make us free to imagine other models, another future, and another world. it obliges us to do so.” [...]
The international aspiration towards change was manifested when the 193 Member States of the United Nations General assembly adopted by consensus Resolution 65/309 on “Happiness: Towards a holistic approach to development”. The resolution described happiness as “a fundamental human goal and universal aspiration”, noting 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”.
Inspired by Bhutan’s development philosophy of Gross National Happiness, resolution 65/309 equally welcomed the offer of Bhutan to convene a panel discussion on happiness and wellbeing and invited
member states “to pursue the elaboration of additional measures that better capture the importance of the pursuit of happiness and wellbeing in development with a view to guiding their public policies.”
On 2nd april 2012 The Royal Government of Bhutan convened a ‘High Level Meeting on Wellbeing and Happiness: Defining a New Economic Paradigm’ at United Nations Headquarters in New York. The
meeting focused on elaborating a new global wellbeing and sustainability-based economic paradigm to replace a system that is in rapid decline worldwide.
The Prime Minister of Bhutan, H.E. Mr. Jigmi Y. Thinley, outlined the purpose of the High-level Meeting in his opening remarks:
We desperately need an economy that serves and nurtures the wellbeing of all sentient beings on earth and the human happiness that comes from living life in harmony with the natural world, with our communities, and with our inner selves. We need an economy that will serve humanity, not enslave it. it must prevent the imminent reversal of civilization and flourish within the natural bounds of our planet while ensuring the sustainable, equitable and meaningful use of precious resources.
Business as usual cannot go on and tinkering with the existing system will not do. We need a fundamental transformation that the Tellus institute calls the Great Transition. Our goal today is to launch the initiative for such a transition. -2012-
Out of the ashes the Phoenix rises. But first before the new comes in the old must burn.
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