The SDSN and Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre to Produce Inaugural GBA-ASEAN Happiness Report
New York, NY (August 24, 2026) — The UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford are pleased to announce the production of the first-ever GBA-ASEAN Happiness Report (GHR).
Building on their longstanding collaboration on the World Happiness Report — the world’s leading global resource on the science of wellbeing — the GHR will be published in the Fall of 2026, with the ambition to continue on an annual basis in subsequent years.
"Sustainable development is about raising human wellbeing,” said Jeffrey Sachs, President of the SDSN. “The GBA-ASEAN Happiness Report brings the rigorous science of the World Happiness Report to the Greater Bay Area and ASEAN, providing partners across the region with the evidence needed to prioritize wellbeing in policymaking."
The GHR will provide a detailed analysis of publicly available well-being data for China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The report’s editor, Dr Shun Wang, said: “The GBA-ASEAN region is a global engine of growth, yet growth alone does not guarantee a good life. This first-ever regional happiness report will examine the key factors behind happiness in the region, helping to guide the way toward happier societies.”
The report will be presented at the November 2026 GBA-ASEAN Conference in Shenzhen, China, the flagship gathering of the GBA-ASEAN Initiative (GAI), an action-oriented program strengthening trade, finance, technology, and policy linkages between the two regions.
Launched in 2025, the GAI is a multi-year flagship program hosted by the SDSN. The GAI aims to promote trade, financial, and infrastructure connectivity between the GBA and ASEAN, facilitate strategic business engagements and political dialogue, and conduct research to generate policy recommendations aligned with the national development strategies of both China and ASEAN.
Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, Director of the Wellbeing Research Centre, said: “We are delighted to be working with SDSN on this important regional report. Using the rigorous methods of wellbeing science, we will show how policymakers can best improve the lives of the citizens they serve.”
The GHR is supported by the TPC Group and the No.17 Foundation. For more information, visit www.gbaaseaninitiative.com.
About the SDSN
Under the auspices of the UN Secretary-General, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) mobilizes the world’s largest knowledge network to advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change through education, research, policy advice, and global collaboration. Via its unique global network of over 2,100 academic institutions, coordinated by 59 national and regional networks worldwide, the SDSN pioneers scientifically rigorous, scalable, interdisciplinary, and systemic approaches for an inclusive, sustainable, and just future. For more information, visit www.unsdsn.org.
About the Wellbeing Research Centre
The Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford is an interdisciplinary research group focused on the empirical study of wellbeing. The Centre is a stimulating home for scholars engaged in world-class research on wellbeing across the life course and in the context of schools, businesses and public policy. We are proud to be the publishing hub of the world’s foremost annual publication on wellbeing, the World Happiness Report, and a founding member and academic partner of the World Wellbeing Movement. Through our work, we seek to advance our collective understanding of human wellbeing in order to help communities around the world improve quality of life for both current and future generations. Findings made by the Centre’s research group have been published in leading international journals including Nature, Science, PNAS, Management Science, The BMJ, and Scientific Reports, and highlighted by major media outlets such as BBC News, The Guardian and The New York Times. For more information, visit wellbeing.hmc.ox.ac.uk.