Bhutan: The Eden of today
Bhutan. Not a very familiar name is it. Some of y’all may know it as that mountainous country in south Asia while others might be going ‘huh?’. I mean, its understandable. Bhutan isn’t exactly in the headlines that frequently, but this little nation has something up its sleeve. You see, Bhutan is, without a doubt, the closest one can get to Eden, and with good reason.
Unlike most countries, Bhutan is quite an underdeveloped nation from our perspective. It has a small economy, a skinny population figure and got the telephone only in 1990. Don’t be blinded by it though. It has achieved something humanity has strived for since the beginning of time, happiness. In 2008, the Bhutanese monarchy established something known as GNH (Gross National Happiness). It is a measure of the general satisfaction of the population and is based on 4 golden pillars
- Good Governance
- Economic Development
- Culture
- Environmental Conservation
This form of governmental authority is celebrated by the United Nations and the International community. Countries such as the United Arab Emirates have instituted their own ministers of happiness. This is all as a result of GNH’s critical success. As of 2016, 90% of Bhutanese citizens are happy according to a survey done by the Bhutanese Government. What is unique is that Bhutan is one of the few countries where Environmental Conservation has truly reached the same level of priority as something like economic growth if not more.
In 2015, Bhutan made headlines around the world after the Paris Climate Summit and agreement had concluded. It explicitly proclaimed,
“We will be a Carbon Neutral Country for all time.”
It was bold. No country had ever had such an ambitious goal. Let’s remember that this is the same country that Bill Gates could buy 43 times over. This was made 2 years back. Where has Bhutan reached? Well, they failed in becoming Carbon neutral. What they did become the world’s only Carbon NEGATIVE country. Yes, this country is taking in more Carbon Dioxide than it gives out. A poor, underdeveloped, isolated monarchy in the Himalayas had achieved something that none of the ‘advanced’ nations could achieved. They didn’t need some expensive technology or intense international debates and disputes. They dedicated all their efforts to their goal without any diversion, and they achieved it.
This stark contrast actually arises from our minds, and what we perceive to be the criteria for something to be called a success. We have set the amount of money that one owns, or their social life etc. to be the bar for a “happy” life. Countries like the United States might seem like heaven on Earth, but it is places like Flint, Michigan or Houston, Texas that prove that no, it is not heaven on Earth, but it instead broke the shroud of deception that had left millions under the illusion that money is king. Hurricane Harvey is something that was predicted years back. We could’ve stopped it. Flint’s water crisis is something that we could’ve prevented. And yet, we live in a world where both tragedies have taken place. We have reached a point where denial and ignorance have become the norm. In Flint, it took months for the state to even admit that there may have been a slight problem and in 2017, President Trump had announced the United States’ departure from the pivotal Paris Climate Agreement. The world seems to be breaking up, one trivial problem after another.
The moral is not that Bhutan is a superstar. The moral is that if a poor Himalayan kingdom can do it, we can all do it. One doesn’t need millions of acres of wind turbines or hundreds of dams to be qualified as “environmentally friendly”. This goes to show that environmentalism is not only for the rich and developed. It’s a responsibility we all have to take. Whether it’s from spreading awareness and protesting illegal dumping and deforestation to telling your best friend to throw the wrapper in the bin. We are all responsible for the fate and future of our God given planet, and we can’t let Bhutan save it alone. We’re all in this together.
United we stand, Divided we fall
