Sustainable Prosperity Quiz

Understanding Sustainable Prosperity

• Sustainable prosperity has different meanings depending on the context and perspective of the person using the term.
• For some, sustainable prosperity means balancing environmental, social, and economic factors to ensure stewardship of resources for future generations.
• The Nova Scotia government proposed legislation called the Environmental Goals and Sustainable Prosperity Act to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and encourage renewable energy.
• Others believe that sustainable prosperity is achieved through freer trade and increased productivity without government intervention.
• Sustainable prosperity extends beyond economics and trade to include the needs of society and the environment.
• The United Nations uses the term sustainable development to meet the needs of the present without compromising future generations' ability to meet their needs.
• Various measures are used to develop an accurate picture of how countries share in sustainable prosperity and how it changes over time.
• Gross domestic product (GDP) is a widely used measure of a country's economy's health and its people's prosperity.
• GDP per person is used to measure the standard of living, and changes in GDP can track a country's economic health.
• The human development index (HDI) measures quality of life based on longevity, knowledge, and standard of living, and is used to classify countries as developed, developing, or underdeveloped.
• Norway ranks first on the HDI, and Canada ranks sixth, but sharp differences exist between the general population and Aboriginal people's quality-of-life indicators.
• The drawbacks of measuring prosperity through GDP and HDI include averaging, which can be deceiving, and not accounting for differences in income distribution and quality of life indicators within a country.