SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The tiny nation of Vanuatu, one of the "happy isles of Oceania", has topped a new index that measures quality of life against environmental impact, with industrial countries, perhaps unsurprisingly, faring badly.

The UK-based New Economics Foundation (NEF) aimed to measure the environmental efficiency of global progress with its "Happy Planet Index" report, which it said painted a different order of world wealth but showed all countries could do better.

"The Happy Planet Index strips the view of the economy back to its absolute basics: what we put in (resources), and what comes out (human lives of different length and happiness)," the NEF said.

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Posted by rjorr at July 11, 2006 8:03 AM