His Majesty Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, the King of Bhutan, in His Scindia Memorial Lecture delivered in Delhi in 2009, had said that in the changing world, the need for values is stronger and more urgent than ever and that only by breaking everything down to its fundamentals and basic human instances can we combat the great problems, even those of environmental degradation, terrorism and world poverty. He said, “Perhaps the first of these values is the sense of a shared planet. This is a world that is shared – not between governments and nations but among us, the people. It may sound idealistic – but this is a natural and practical way of approaching things that seem intractable and inflexible – no matter how big the problem. The image of a shared planet must always be present in our minds – and especially in the minds of those who are in positions of leadership.
I don’t claim to be an expert on global issues but it can only help in the search for a solution if we remember that this planet must be passed on to our future generations and to other living beings. Isn’t it natural that every individual will seek to enhance his inheritance and pass it on to his own children?”

Today, at this important forum, I would like to reiterate this question: Isn’t it natural that every individual will seek to enhance his inheritance and pass it on to his own children? Unless we feel this responsibility, we will not stop robbing our planet and our children. We must remember not to finish off the earth’s resources which are rightfully our children’s and the other life forms with whom we share this planet.

To quote His Majesty the King of Bhutan again, “When we accept that this is a world of people all alike, of families all alike, of communities all alike – of countries facing the same challenges – of human beings ultimately seeking the same thing – then we will truly be in a position to foster well-being, security and happiness”.

In regards to sustainable development, the ecological footprint is the best expression of putting the idea of sustainable development at a quantitative level. It is often left as a general level of statement, good for mass communication but not good for policy making, because it does not leave us with an effective way of measuring and quantifying things. Many other methods are just theoretical and conceptual.

It is, therefore, encouraging to see that there are various attempts at developing alternative approaches to guide our future. Among these, perhaps, the most comprehensive is the ecological footprint analysis to track and measure the integrity of our ecology or sustainability of development practices. Using some 5,000 data points for each country per year to produce an annual global footprint called the Living Planet Report, it compares earth's biologically productive capacity, which includes resources such as cropland, forest, pasture and fisheries, as well as land to absorb CO2, with the resources consumed or demanded in terms of global hectare per person, per year.

According to this analysis, the global ecological footprint was roughly half the regenerative capacity of the planet in 1960. By the mid 1980s, it crossed the critical threshold. In 2005, it was estimated that demand exceeded supply by 30%. This means our generation has consumed its share of the planet’s resources and capacity and has already begun depriving the future generations of their share of resources and chances of survival. The Living Planet Report 2008, states that, if we continue with business as usual, by the early 2030s we will need two planets to keep up with humanity's demand for goods and services.

Sustainable development, as expressed in the ecological footprint account, is a model for equilibrium between the supply and demand of resources. It is also about inter-generational equity in terms of resource distribution. But it does not, at least in conceptual terms, explicitly address in a holistic way, the issue of what really constitutes human well-being which, in its highest state, has got to be happiness.

In Bhutan, we believe that happiness must be the purpose of development. In this regard, Bhutan has been guided for four decades now by the concept of Gross National Happiness (GNH), which, while being consistent with the sustainable development concept, goes beyond it to actually relate development to contentment and happiness. Conceived by our Fourth King, His Majesty Jigme Singye Wangchuck, who pronounced that “Gross National Happiness is more important than Gross Domestic Product,” it is based on the belief that happiness can be best achieved through development that balances the needs of the body with those of the mind within a stable and sustainable environment. It stresses that material enrichment must not lead to spiritual impoverishment and that it must address emotional and psychological needs of the individual.

Even our Constitution holds the state as having the responsibility of promoting GNH as an arbiter of public policies and plans. Accordingly, the Royal Government has undertaken this responsibility through a four-pronged strategy popularly referred to as the four pillars of GNH. All development policies and programmes of the Kingdom must serve to strengthen these four pillars. These are:

1. Sustainable and equitable socio-economic development,

2. Conservation of our fragile mountain ecology,

3. Promotion of cultural growth and diversity, and

4. Good governance.