Happiness that doesn’t cost the Earth

Everyone has a basic human need for a happy and fulfilling life. For many, this is becoming increasingly difficult to achieve during a period of economic upheaval and rising energy prices. With the climate crisis looming large and internationally agreed temperature limits looking precarious, it is imperative that we rapidly reduce emissions that threaten the wellbeing of people around the world.1This presents a dilemma: at both the policy and personal scales, wellbeing has conventionally been pursued through increasing income and greater consumption of goods and services; yet—leaving aside inflationary pressures to earn more in order to stand still—higher levels of income and consumption are themselves among the strongest drivers of greenhouse gas emissions.23Fortunately, a careful unpicking of these connections shows routes to accomplishing a good quality of life at the same time as pursuing effective climate action.Measures of subjective wellbeing and life satisfaction—happiness, by other names—do increase in general with…
Read Original Article: Happiness that doesn’t cost the Earth »