Transition of Thoughts

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Microblog Mondays: Bhutan’s journey to becoming carbon negative

Bhutan - The mysterious kingdom

Bhutan – The mysterious kingdom

Source: https://www.vjv.com/media/314861/bhutan-punakh-monastery.jpg

Bhutan is a tiny mountainous country landlocked far away in the Himalayas. Aided by it’s expensive visa policy for most tourists, Bhutan has largely stayed away from excessive commercialization in the name of tourism and has thus kept it’s mysterious aura intact.

72% of the country is covered in forests and this has helped it become a carbon sink rather than a carbon polluter. While it’s trees can absorb about 6 million tons of carbon per year, Bhutan only produces 1.5 million tons of carbon annually. Another key factor in helping it become carbon negative is importance given to Gross National Happiness (GNH) rather than Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

As part of GNH, one of the key initiatives was the pledge to not let forest cover go below 60%, ban logging and also encourage the use of hydroelectric power and other renewable energy sources. While this started off as a project to becoming carbon neutral, today Bhutan stands out as the only country in the world which is carbon negative. Moreover, GNH has been adopted into happiness surveys and reports in many other parts of the world.

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20 Comments

  1. Mel

    That is fascinating. I didn’t know that about Bhutan.

    • aseemrastogi2

      Yeah must say that Bhutan is a really mesmerizing country. And seeing it’s natural beauty you wouldn’t be disappointed

  2. In knew the Bhutan that was a serene place with a lot of food variety. This is informative, thanks for sharing 🙂

  3. Bhutan is a place I would love to visit. It’s natural beauty has always mesmerised me. 🙂

    • aseemrastogi2

      Yeah not for nothing is the forest cover maintained above 60% there. I guess maintaining the natural beauty of the country is something each and every citizen there strives for. And the results show :). Thanks for stopping by :D.

  4. I admire this country for its responsibility towards mother earth and the future.Hoping to learn from them .Great way to spread awareness

  5. Wow… Much advanced country than all I feel in true sense. They are going in the right direction. #zarahatkeblogreads

  6. Kudos to Bhutan and your writing on this is an excellent piece!

  7. Right post at the right time, going to Bhutan in next month 🙂

  8. inquisitivegeet

    That sure is a great initiative focusing on GNH. And the country with its greenery should sure be the target of developed countries!

    Loved the information here.

    Cheers
    Geets

  9. Now, as I think of it, haven’t heard many people talk about visiting Bhutan. After reading this, I feel like I should 🙂

  10. I had no clue Bhutan was so forest rich…I so love forests. Will surely read more on Bhutan now and visit as soon as i can 🙂 Lovely post!

  11. I knew about Bhutan following GDH, but didn’t know much about its strategy to remain carbon neutral. Very interesting!

  12. I have always wanted to visit Bhutan but never knew it was a carbon negative place.

    • transitionofthoughts

      Oh yes that’s such a lovely thing that they are doing whatever they can to protect their environment :).

  13. Informative article on Bhutan.Good to know its carbon sinking!

    • transitionofthoughts

      Thanks :). They are definitely doing a great job and one we all can learn from.

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