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How countries can ensure happy, content societies

It's not just economic development, factors such as sustainable living, governance, too, matter to people

Recently, as the world celebrated the International Day of Happiness, we were updated by the United Nations on the rankings of the happiest countries on earth. The UN's World Happiness Report stated that the new happiest country on earth is Norway (replacing Denmark which is now in second position). The UAE, which is on 21^st position, is the happiest country in the Middle East. I'm sure we will be seeing greater strides in our happiness rank and our quality of life in the coming years as our leadership's efforts bear fruit.
The concept of happiness is easy to understand, because we all aim to be, well, happy. But when it comes to policy and measurement, it can be a complex subject. As a student of sustainability, I am especially interested to see how happiness is linked to sustainable values. At the outset, this seems a clear correlation ­- the 25 happiest countries are those that are recognisably 'sustainability-oriented' nations. For example, the Scandinavian countries, Canada, New Zealand, Germany etc. But I believe it would be interesting to study this correlation further.
The World Happiness Report measures essential factors found to support happiness: caring, freedom, generosity, honesty, health, income and good governance - as you can see, there is a definite overlap of these factors with the sustainability principles of the UN Global Compact that cover aspects of human and labour rights, transparency, environmental health and good governance. But does this still mean that sustainability improves happiness?
Perhaps it would be important to reflect on the notion of happiness, or the state of being happy. The Kimiya-Al Sa'ada (translated as "the Alchemy of Happiness"), a book written by Abu Hamid Al Ghazali, one of the greatest thinkers of Islam, states that the key to happiness is the elimination of selfish desires and doing what is right in all aspects of one's life. I believe that this is what sustainable and responsible living is about, i.e. to sacrifice individual desires and focus on collective well-being - may it be our natural environment (that affects everyone around us) or our future society (which affects our forthcoming generations), or our overall economy, which, if prioritising income equality, can raise the standard of everyone's lives. Nonetheless, Ghazali's formula for happiness, despite its simplicity, is easier said than done.
Happiness comes in many shades, has different reasons and varies in its effect. A famous Chinese proverb states: "If you want happiness for an hour - take a nap. If you want happiness for a day - go fishing. If you want happiness for a year - inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime - help someone else," again indicating that to be happy is to be less selfish and more selfless - a strong value for sustainable living.
When we study history, we observe that two sides of human nature exhibit themselves most strongly. The first is the competitive instinct - to survive and succeed, sometimes at the expense of others. The other side is our cooperative nature - to help others even when it doesn't benefit us. This isn't just a matter for our individual lives, but also for governments, businesses and policy-makers. How we treat others, i.e. the community we live in, our customers and colleagues, future generations, creates positive connections that are vital for happiness.
Some would argue that consumption of material goods and services contributes to people's happiness, and, therefore, higher levels of consumption should contribute to overall well-being. To some extent that may be true. But then, how much is enough to make and keep us happy? An increasing number of studies by psychologists claim that it isn't 'things' and 'stuff' that produce happiness, but rather a network of close relations to others and meaningful and engaging work. The Harvard Study of Adult Development, the longest study of adult life that's ever been done, tracked the lives of 724 people for 75 years. The simple message of this study: Over everything else, it is good relationships that keep us happier and healthier.
At a macro level, we can see that increasing economic output increases consumption of goods and services, increases the likelihood to improve public services, and reduces unemployment and poverty. This is true when you have good governance in place (as is the case of the UAE and other 'happy' nations). However, there are a number of country-level cases that show that economic growth can lead to negative externalities on public health and environment, increased income inequality, a surge in crime and also increased prevalence of diseases related to affluence (for e.g. obesity, stress, depression etc.). The Noble Prize winning economist Amartya Sen wrote in his book Development as Freedom that policies that promote sustainability may well lead to economic growth, but the converse is certainly not assured.
Another important question to ask is: does the lack of sustainability result in unhappiness? The World Happiness Report states that despite its rapid economic progress over the past decade, China is no happier than it was 25 years ago and stands at 79^th position below much smaller economies. Happiness, or the pursuit of it, also seems to be struggling in most countries in Africa - mainly because of poor governance, high levels of corruption and overall well-being of its people. Furthermore, declining social support and increased corruption in the US has led to the country becoming 'a story of unhappiness', despite it having higher GDP per capita than the Nordic countries that ranked higher on happiness (Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Sweden) - thus proving that more money doesn't necessarily translate to more happiness.
To end on a call to action, what we need to bear in mind is that happiness and sustainable living - closely interlinked as briefly discussed above - require action. I am certain that each of our individual journeys, if supported with sustainability-focused values will help us live happier and more meaningful lives.
Habiba Al Mar'ashi is President and CEO of Arabia CSR Network.