Founded in 1997, GPIAtlantic is an independent, non-profit research and education organization committed to the development of the Genuine Progress Index (GPI) – a new measure of sustainability, wellbeing and quality of life.
GPI in Bhutan
In response to requests, GPI Atlantic has in recent years undertaken a wide range of projects in the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan, which is seeking to harmonize sustainable and equitable socio-economic development with environmental conservation, cultural promotion, and good governance.
For more information on these projects, please view our Bhutan section.
Every dollar invested in climate change action now avoids more than $17 in future damages—GPI Atlantic
The costs of future climate change are so astronomical that even modest investments cutting greenhouse gas emissions now will produce huge savings in avoided damages in future.
Climate change economists estimate that each tonne of greenhouse gases we emit will cause at least $38 in global climate change damages. When compared to costs of drastically reducing greenhouse gas emissions now, GPI Atlantic found that every dollar invested now will save at least $17 in avoided future damage costs.
Nova Scotia has cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20% since 1990, mainly from electricity, through increased use of wind power, heat pumps, and efficiency measures. But Nova Scotians are also driving more, and emitting ever more greenhouse gases from cars and gas-guzzling SUVs. Every Nova Scotian still emits 18 tonnes of greenhouse gases a year – twice as much as West Europeans, 65% more than Quebecois, the fifth highest in Canada, and the fourth highest per dollar of GDP – 13% above the national average.
In Nova Scotia, climate change is predicted to increase extreme weather events, particularly hurricanes, floods, and droughts, and to flood low-lying regions round Halifax Harbour, Yarmouth and the Bay of Fundy due to sea-level rise, higher tides, and greater storm intensity, frequency and surges.
The Geological Survey of Canada projects a 75-centimetre sea level rise in Halifax Harbour this century. Nova Scotia’s southern and eastern shores will see more erosion and coastal instability, and Environment Canada warns of potential saltwater infiltration into Nova Scotia groundwater, threats to communication links, and falling lake and groundwater levels.
GPI Atlantic has a new Share the Earth youth project. Students may also join the GPI Climate Change Working Group to help produce briefs like this one. Please contact gwen@gpiatlantic.org to sign up and check the GPI Atlantic Facebook Page for details of upcoming workshops.
Measuring Quality of Life on Prince Edward Island
Thursday, November 22, 2018 | 7 p.m.
Don and Marion McDougall Hall, MacKinnon Auditorium, Room 242
The public is invited to the Harry Baglole Memorial Public Symposium in Island Studies, "Measuring Quality of Life on Prince Edward Island," on Thursday, November 22, 7-9 p.m., at UPEI's MacKinnon Auditorium, Room 242, McDougall Hall. This event is sponsored by UPEI’s Institute of Island Studies, in conjunction with UPEI Research Services.
The principal speaker will be Gwen Colman, who, in 1997, along with her husband Ron, founded Genuine Progress Index (GPI) Atlantic, a pioneering research organization in creating new measures of wellbeing and progress. Gwen will be speaking about GPI's work in collaborative development of wellbeing measures with communities in Bhutan, New Zealand, Thailand, and Nova Scotia. Recently, GPI has worked with a network of universities and NGOs in Southeast Asia, developing a methodology for collaborative development of wellbeing measures at the community level. She will speak about recent work in two communities in Thailand, and about previous work with the creation of Community GPIs in two communities in Nova Scotia. Gwen will identify the elements for creating successful community partnerships to measure wellbeing and their resultant impact.
For more information, please visit the UPEI Institute of Island Studies website.
