A POSTCAPITALIST PARADIGM: THE COMMON GOOD OF ...

Also for the question if a high human development is possible with a small
ecological footprint, Cuba shows it is. In general it’s one or the other.
Countries with a high human development index (HDI) have a big foot and
countries with a small foot have a low HDI. Emerging countries have none
of both, but some of them are on a short distance from the zone that combines
a high foot with a high HDI. Unfortunately for them, as the chart
shows, the trends are not going in the right direction. Cuba again is the
exception. It is a country with a high standard of living and a low consumption
pattern. 72 And once more, I suppose the same is true for Kerala. Here
again one can read this information in two directions. For poor and emerging
countries who want to achieve a higher social development, a bigger
foot print is not compulsory. Inversely, rich countries can scale down their
environmental impact without necessarily losing on life quality.
72 This does not mean that Cuba hasn’t got ecological problems. To give one example:
Cuba still needs to import a large part of its food. So food security [64] is a big
problem. But in general the care for the environment is very high (see above). For
the dates see, World Wildlife Fund, Living Planet Report 2010. Biodiversity, biocapacity
and development, Gland 2010, p. 73. The slide is token from
http://cow.neondragon.net/index.php/cuba-the-only-sustainable-developed-countryin-the-world.
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