..Press Release................................ UNESCAP News Services

Date 17 July 2007
Press Release No: N/32/2007

Conference on Happiness Examines Different Approaches to Development

Meeting to take place at UN in Bangkok from 18-19 July

BANGKOK (United Nations Information Services) – The Asia-Pacific region has shown enviable economic growth as measured by GDP. However, this growth has come at a heavy environmental cost and has been accompanied by a host of social problems, calling into question whether GDP-driven development brings people more happiness.

To examine these issues, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) is co-sponsoring an International Conference on Happiness and Public Policy which will be held 18-19 July at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok. The meeting, organized by the Public Policy Development Office (PPDO) of the government of Thailand, is an effort to establish a new paradigm for development that stresses the quality of growth over quantity.

The meeting is expected to attract over 300 participants from the region and beyond and will feature high-level government officials such as the Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand, Paiboon Wattanasiritham, the Minister of Home and Cultural Affairs of Bhutan, Lyonpo Jigmi Thinley. Kim Hak-Su, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and UNESCAP Executive Secretary, will speak at the opening.

The two-day conference will consider ways to conceptualize and implement development approaches which maximize happiness. It will also discuss the development of happiness or well-being indicators which can be applied at national or international levels. To achieve this, the conference will draw on the experience gained from the Human Development Index− used by the United Nations to measure a country’s level of development by comparing education levels, life expectancy and standards of living.

UNESCAP has been working on a similar paradigm shift through the Green Growth initiative which aims to persuade governments in the region to move away from the current “grow first clean up later” mentality. The Green Growth approach recognizes that society is better off if poverty can be alleviated without severely damaging the natural environment. It seeks to achieve this by making production and consumption more environmentally friendly. One of the proposed measures is green tax reforms -- shifting taxation from income generating activities to polluting activities.

The conference will also feature an award-winning short animated film Tree Robo from the Republic of Korea. The film is about a boy and a robot who live in harmony with nature until they are separated during an environmentally devastating war.

More information is available at: http://www.ppdoconference.org/about_ppdo_conference.php
http://www.greengrowth.org/ and www.unescap/esd/environment

For coverage of the meeting, please contact:

Brian Thomson
United Nations Information Service
Tel: (662) 228 – 1869
E-mail: thomsonb@un.org

For further information on UNESCAP’s work on Green Growth, please contact:

Rae Kwon Chung
Director
Environment and Sustainable Development Division
Tel: (662) 288 – 2250
E-mail: escap-esdd-oc@un.org