Bhutan Systematic Country Diagnostic : Taking Bhutan’s Development Success to the Next Level
Bhutan is a small, landlocked country deep in the eastern Himalayas between India and China. Over a horizontal distance of just 100-150 km, the elevation rises from about 150 meters above sea level in the south to over 7,000 meters in the north. Th...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Report |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2020
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/162771580405026027/Bhutan-Systematic-Country-Diagnostic http://hdl.handle.net/10986/33286 |
| Summary: | Bhutan is a small, landlocked country
deep in the eastern Himalayas between India and China. Over
a horizontal distance of just 100-150 km, the elevation
rises from about 150 meters above sea level in the south to
over 7,000 meters in the north. The population of about
735,0001 is scattered across steep mountain slopes and
valleys, many in remote and far-flung hamlets. This makes
Bhutan one of the most sparsely populated countries in the
world, ranked 182 out of 215 countries. Nearly half the land
area is protected to help preserve biodiversity. With forest
coverage exceeding 70 percent, Bhutan is the only
carbon-negative country in the world, absorbing more
greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) than it produces, and not
counting the carbon that its hydropower exports displace in
India. Bhutan started opening up to the outside world only
in the early 2000s, but its political and economic ties are
still mainly with India. Despite sharing a long border with
China in the north, the formal relationship is limited.
Bhutan’s independence throughout its history has helped
preserve its rich cultural heritage and traditions. As its
development policies demonstrate, Bhutan strives to be
self-sufficient and to conserve its environment and culture.
Bhutan’s unique development philosophy, GNH, guides its
development plans, emphasizing a holistic and inclusive
approach to sustainable development. The four pillars of GNH
are (a) good governance, (b) sustainable socioeconomic
development, (c) preservation and promotion of culture, and
(d) conserving the environment. Since 2008, Bhutan has had a
development management system guided by the Constitution,
with development strategies and annual budgets driven by GHN
principles. The GNH Index and the GNH Policy Screening Tool
are its main instruments for operationalizing GNH into the
formulation of development policies. The GNH Index measures
Bhutan’s progress toward maximizing GNH; the GNH Policy
Screening Tool assesses how a new policy will affect GNH.
Many of Bhutan’s development achievements can be attributed
to this unique development framework, which has been
supported by continued efforts to ensure good governance. |
|---|