pm assures the world of bhutan’s sustainable course

The outcome document of the conference falls far short of what needs to be done

Bhutan will support all efforts for a saner, safer, and sustainable path and always be committed to a sustainable development.

This was the message passed to the world leaders by the Prime Minister Lyonchhen Jigmi Y. Thinley at the opening of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development at Rio de janerio, Brazil, last week.

“My own country will continue to stay the sustainable course,” said Lyonchhen Jigmi Y. Thinley.

Lyonchhen said Bhutan’s commitment to sustainable development with the clear long term vision of attaining the ultimate state of being has been conditioned for 40 years by its development model of Gross National Happiness (GNH).

The model, he said, is a holistic paradigm that emphasizes sustainability, equity, human values, ecological resilience and good governance. “All our policies and projects are now cleared only after being passed under the GNH lens to examine their GNH value to society,” Lyonchhen added.

Lyonchhen Jigmi Y. Thinley urged the leaders of more than 100 states and governments toward a saner, safer and sustainable development path for the sake of humanity.

Lyonchhen called upon the member states to do far more in their own countries and assists the weaker among them for the sake of their own national wellbeing in a globalized and ecological borderless world.

“The outcome document of the conference falls far short of what needs to be done,” he said.

He said the member states must strive to convince their nations of the merit of pursuing sustainable development and be worthy of the trust people have placed in them to lead and to lead in the right direction.

“Once we knew what we wanted, choosing the means have not been as difficult as might otherwise have been,” added Lyonchhen.

Lyonchhen said sustainable development means survival. “Sustainable development is not a choice. It is an absolute necessity. It is neither an ideal beyond the reach of the poor nor a threat to the rich and affluent. And we have no time to waste over arguments of who must bear the guilt for our predicament,” Lyonchhenadded.He said sustainable development goals must be guided by human happiness and wellbeing and that the three conditions of sustainability, wellbeing and happiness must be interdependent.

“Without happiness, there can be no appreciation of the beauty and preciousness of life and our natural world. And, without wellbeing, happiness can never be. So, likewise, wellbeing, that may otherwise come at the cost of planetary wellbeing, can only be moderated by considerations of sustainability and happiness,” Lyonchhen said.

Lyonchhen said the unraveling of the GDP-based economic model and the immeasurable damage that it has caused to the society has attracted interest in Bhutan’s sustainable development paradigm which has been marked by the unanimous adoption of the resolution on Wellbeing and Happiness by the UN General Assembly in July 2011.

With the successful High Level Meeting on the subject in April this year at the UN Headquarters in New York Bhutan has also submitted the report of the meeting to the Secretary-General for distribution to all member states.

The report recommends that wellbeing and happiness must form the basis and reason for sustainable, holistic and inclusive development.