António Guterres says the world’s accounting systems should move ‘Beyond GDP’ to place true value on the environment by complementing GDP with other indicators, helping governments and the public assess whether GDP growth is truly improving human wellbeing, advancing equity, and safeguarding sustainability now and for future generations. As Jason Hickel points out (in the same article), retaining GDP means retaining what is valuable to capital – which is not often human wellbeing, equity and sustainability.
Beyond GDP, as a global economic setting, is a critical step to wider acceptance that growth is a highly flawed economic goal, because if the economy focuses on what is good for people and planet, then growth might not occur – and vice versa. Already many rich nations are struggling to find growth even though they aren’t that discerning about the kinds of growth they pursue, such as war.
All of this potentially leads to wider acceptance of post growth thinking. I believe all decision makers, from business people to policymakers and politicians, need to grasp post growth because it is so obviously a potential part of our future economic pathway.
The Guardian has provided a great (imperfect, but helpful) explainer of the key factors that support post growth thinking. I highly recommend it as a fast entry point to the arguments.
Photo by Clark Young on Unsplash
Heliocene 