As it turns out, countries with low GDP ranked high in the HPI and had smaller eco-footprints compared with nations with high GDP that ranked low in the HPI and had larger eco-footprints per capita. Evidently material wealth does not equate with happiness, but instead creates more waste and pollution.
Today the UK chancellor announced that the head role at the Bank of England would go to none other than the current Bank of Canada Governor, Mark Carney. The bet is that Carney can wave the same magic wand for the UK, though it's going to take more than a doctorate from Oxford to overcome the relatively larger challenges facing that country versus Canada, with its proximity to a troubled Eurozone.
The failure of world leaders to act on the critical issue of global warming is often blamed on economic considerations. But let's take a look at the economic reality. A new scientific report concludes that climate change is already costing the world $1.2 trillion a year. It's also killing at least 400,000 people every year.