Bhutan National Human Development Report 2011: Sustaining Progress – Rising to the Climate Challenge

This analytical report notes that climate change is threatening the economic and human development gains that contribute to Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness (GNH) and that building resilience is crucial to safeguard the livelihoods of about a quarter of the Bhutanese population who depend on subsistence farming and natural resources. Bhutan has committed to environmental conservation and to remain a carbon neutral country. The report underlines that due to an export ban on unprocessed forest timber and the constitutional protection of 60% of the country’s forest cover, Bhutan has maintained its status as a net sink for greenhouse gases (GHGs). Nevertheless, it warns that melting of the country’s glaciers can lead to water shortages in the future and jeopardize the hydropower sector, which the economy is dependent on.