The wellbeing of nations : a country-by-country index of quality of life and the environment

This exceptional publication provides a new analysis of the state of the world and the first global assessment of sustainability. It surveys 180 countries using the Wellbeing Assessment, a unique way of measuring human and ecosystem wellbeing. Developed with the support of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and IUCN, the new method gives equal weight to people and the environment, and its Human Wellbeing Index and Ecosystem Wellbeing Index cover a wider range of concerns than other yardsticks such as the Gross Domestic Product, the Human Development Index, or the Environmental Sustainability Index. The indexes help societies to identify the main obstacles to sustainability and devise strategies to overcome them. Only 37 countries, led by Sweden, are more than half way to the goal of sustainability.