il benessere delle nazioni (IUCN)

["AlessandroGimona"<agimona at libero.it>]

[link alla fine]

Cari tutti,
un report sponsorizzato da IUCN che dimostra che il benessere dipende 
da come lo si misura.

Indici per una societa' sostenibile.

Saluti, 
spero interessi

Alessandro Gimona

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Four indexes that together measure how close societies are to the good 
life
were released October 23, 2001 in The Wellbeing of 
Nations, a new analysis
of the state of the world and the first global 
assessment of sustainability. Thomas
E. Lovejoy, chief biodiversity advisor of The World 
Bank, welcomed the
indexes as, "At long last, a real metric for measuring 
sustainability and wellbeing.
The Wellbeing of Nations provides a way to chart a 
better future." 

The rankings are startling. The leaders-Sweden (1st), 
Finland (2nd), Norway
(3rd), Iceland (4th), Austria (5th), and Canada (7th)-
are long time residents of
the top tier of global progress tables. But they are 
joined by countries that
usually are lost in the middle of the pack, such as 
Dominica (6th), Guyana
(10th), Latvia (16th), and Peru (19th). The United 
States and the
Netherlands-6th and 8th respectively in the latest 
United Nations' Human
Development Index-drop to 27th and 38th in the 
Wellbeing Index. 

"The global progress chart has been radically 
reshuffled," says the report's
author, Robert Prescott-Allen. "Inclusion of the 
environment and a wider
view of human development explain much of the change 
but lack of data is also
a factor."

Used as part of Wellbeing Assessment (a method of 
evaluating human and
environmental conditions developed with the support of 
Canada's International
Development Research Centre and IUCN-The World 
Conservation Union),
the indexes help societies to identify the main 
obstacles to sustainability and
devise strategies to overcome them.

The Human Wellbeing Index (HWI) covers peace, freedom, 
governance,
crime, and equity as well as wealth, health, and 
knowledge. Consequently it is a
more realistic gauge of socioeconomic conditions than 
narrowly monetary
indicators such as the Gross Domestic Product and 
provides a fuller appraisal
of human development than the United Nations' Human 
Development Index. Of
the 180 countries surveyed by The Wellbeing of 
Nations, 91 have a poor or
bad HWI, 52 a medium HWI, 34 a fair HWI, and just 3 
(Norway, Finland,
and Denmark) a good HWI. 

The Ecosystem Wellbeing Index (EWI) is an equally 
comprehensive
measure of the state of the environment, summarizing 
the quality of land, air, and
water, and the diversity of plants, animals, and 
habitats. It is the only index
made up exclusively of indicators of actual 
environmental conditions and direct
impacts on those conditions (rather than of indicators 
of policies, treaties, and
other procedures). The EWI is poor or bad in 72 
countries, medium in 81, and
fair in 27. Nowhere is it good.

The Wellbeing Index (WI) is the point on the Barometer 
of Sustainability (a
graphic performance scale) where the HWI and EWI 
intersect. It vividly
portrays how far each society is from the goal of 
sustainability. Only 37
countries, led by Sweden, are more than half way there.

The Wellbeing/Stress Index (WSI) shows how much human 
wellbeing each
society obtains for the amount of ecosystem stress it 
causes. In 141 nations the
WSI is less than 1.00, meaning that the environmental 
costs of efforts to survive
and develop exceed the benefits to people.

"Together, the HWI, EWI, WI, and WSI provide the means 
by which countries
and communities can measure the overall conditions of 
people and the
environment," says the report's author, Robert 
Prescott-Allen. "This makes it
possible for them to adopt high levels of human and 
ecosystem wellbeing as an
achievable goal, committing themselves to raise the 
quality of human life and
secure the health of the environment, rather than do 
one at the expense of the
other." 

The Wellbeing of Nations is published by the 
International Development
Research Centre (IDRC) and Island Press in cooperation 
with IUCN-The
World Conservation Union, International Institute for 
Environment and
Development, Food and Agriculture Organization of the 
United Nations, Map
Maker Ltd., and UNEP World Conservation Monitoring 
Centre. 



http://www.islandpress.org/books/detail.tpl?sku=1-55963-831-1


Alessandro Gimona
agimona at libero.it