Top finance experts met at UN Geneva last week to push for a radical shake up in the way economic growth is gauged, in response to concerns that GDP measurements provide little insight about progress on key sustainability targets that are vital to our survival.
Backed by the UN trade and development agency, UNCTAD and other partners, the “Beyond GDP” initiative acknowledges a warning from Secretary-General António Guterres that global policymaking is over-reliant on Global Domestic Product data as posted on the official United Nations side.
“Every day, we witness the consequences of our failure to balance economic, social and environmental dimensions of development,” the Secretary-General has said. “Moving beyond GDP is fundamental to building an economic system that gives value to what counts – human wellbeing – now and in the future, and for everyone.”
His view echoes that of many senior economists, who have said frequently that GDP places too much value on activities that deplete the planet, rather than those that sustain life and contribute to people’s wellbeing.
“This tension has become increasingly salient in the context of climate change, deteriorating ecosystems and biodiversity loss, rising conflict and food insecurity, and historic inequalities,” a statement from the High-Level Expert Group notes.
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