Iceland ranks top in happy citizen table

Iceland shows that happiness does not have to come at a great cost

Iceland is the leader in a league table judging the European country best able to give citizens a long and happy life. Estonia comes bottom of the 30-nation survey while the UK lurks below Romania, at number 21 in the chart.

The European Happy Planet Index used carbon efficiency, life satisfaction and life expectancy to rate the countries. The survey, published by the New Economics Foundation and Friends of the Earth, reveals that Europe is now worse at creating well-being than it was 40 years ago.

"Countries like Iceland clearly show that happiness doesn't have to cost the earth," said Nic Marks, founder of the foundation's Centre for Well-being. "Iceland's combination of strong social policies and extensive use of renewable energy demonstrates that living within our environmental means doesn't mean sacrificing human well-being."

The Scandinavian countries do best in the survey. Sweden is second, Norway third and Denmark sixth. Immediately above Estonia, at the bottom of the table, are Luxembourg, Bulgaria and Greece.

Andrew Simms, the foundation's head of climate change, said countries with a strong market-led economic model fared least well. "What is the point if we burn vast quantities of fossil fuels to make, buy and consume ever more stuff, without noticeably benefiting our well-being?"

Iceland has rich sustainable energy source, via the volcanic geology, and its government commits more resources to health than any other country in Europe.

Luxembourg is the worst country for its carbon footprint and the UK comes fourth from the bottom on that rating. Europe as a whole has almost three times its "fair" global share of carbon emissions.

Estonia comes bottom, by having the second highest fear of crime in Europe and a heavy carbon footprint. Switzerland, fourth overall, has the highest average life expectancy, at 80.5 years, while the UK achieves 78.4 and Latvia ranks lowest with 70.7.

在一项共有30个国家参与的调查中，冰岛被评为欧洲最长寿、最快乐的国家，爱沙尼亚垫底，英国位居罗马尼亚之后，排名第21。

此项“欧洲快乐星球指数”主要是综合碳效率、人民的生活满意度及预期寿命三个指标对这些国家进行评分。该项由新经济基金会和“地球之友”公布的调查显示，如今的欧洲在谋求幸福方面已不如40年前。

新经济基金会“幸福中心”的创建者尼克·马克斯说：“我们从冰岛这样的国家可以清楚的看到，快乐并不需要以牺牲地球环境为代价。冰岛有力的社会政策和可再生能源的广泛使用表明，环保并不意味着要牺牲人类的幸福。”

北欧国家在这份调查中“表现”最好。瑞典名列第二、挪威第三、丹麦排名第六。排在最后几位的除爱沙尼亚外，还包括卢森堡、保加利亚和希腊。

新经济基金会负责气候变化的安德鲁·希姆斯说，市场经济模式发达的国家表现最差。“如果我们消耗大量的矿物燃料来制造、购买以及消费更多的东西，却并没有显著增加幸福感，这又有什么意义呢？”

冰岛的火山地质特征使其拥有丰富的可再生能源，冰岛政府在健康方面投入的资源比欧洲其它国家都要多。

卢森堡的碳排放量（“碳足迹”）最多，英国在这一指标上排名倒数第四。欧洲的整体碳排放量是其全球碳排放量指标的近三倍。

爱沙尼亚因人们对犯罪的恐惧程度名列欧洲第二以及很高的碳排放量排在最后。位居第四的瑞士人均寿命最长，达到80.5岁；英国为78.4岁；拉脱维亚最短，为70.7岁。

Vocabulary:

lurk : to exist unobserved or unsuspected（潜伏；潜藏）

renewable energy : 可再生能源

carbon footprint : 碳足迹