United Nations General Assembly
New indicators of economic progress proposed by the UN include greenhouse gas emissions, life expectancy and children’s performance in reading and mathematics.
The United Nations is considering defining 31 new indicators to “complement and go beyond” the world’s main measure of economic growth, the Gross Domestic Product.
The proposed new annual indicators include economic metrics such as disposable income of families per capita, and environmental data such as each country’s greenhouse gas emissions and levels of suspended particles in the air.
According to the magazine, they also include indicators of health and educationsuch as life expectancy and children’s performance in reading and mathematics, and measures of well-beingsuch as the proportion of women and girls subjected to physical and/or sexual violence.
Fifteen of the 31 proposed indicators are already part of the indicators considered in the UN (SDGs).
The new indicators are contained in a report entitled , prepared by a multidisciplinary committee of researchers and policy makers, co-chaired by economists Kaushik Basufrom Cornell University, in the USA, and Nora Lustigfrom Tulane University.
The group was formed last year by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres.
At least three decades ago that economists and political leaders are trying dethrone GDPincluding some promoted by the UN itself, but this is the first time that the organization’s secretary general has responded to such a request from Member States, notes Nature.
What GDP is — and what it isn’t
There are different ways to measure GDP. According to the most used method, this is the sum of what a country’s families and governments spend with what companies invest.
The calculation rules are agreed by the UN Statistical Commission, which is a kind of parliament of national statistical agencies from all over the world. The data is, however, compiled and released by each country individually.
GDP appears referred to in numerous legislations and is used as a reference in policy setting around the world. Countries regularly disclose their defense, health and research expenditures as a percentage of GDP.
O GDP growth is also often the main objective of a country’s economic policy. But “it is now being used in ways that its creators cannotthey never intended“, declared Guterres.
“During my tenure as Secretary-General, the size of the global economy grew by more than 50%in real terms. At the same time, many indicators of health, biodiversity, job creationhuman rights and peace, with conflicts at levels not seen since the Second World War, are regressing“, highlighted Guterres.
Annalena Baerbockpresident of the UN General Assembly, stressed that GDP increases even when damage occurs. “If many people in your country suffer road accidents or a chemical catastrophe occurs, this will also, at that moment, increase your GDP, because something needs to be done to remedy the situation.”
Part of GDP appeal lies in the fact that it aggregates a large amount of information in a single number, being “easy to understand”says Stephen Polasky, environmental economist at the University of Minnesota, in the USA. The researcher argues that any new measure will also have to be simple enough so that non-specialists can understand it.
The report’s authors state that they considered creating one or more new aggregate indicators, but were unable to reach an agreement regarding content and methodology, and recommend that the UN establish a commission of scientists to develop this idea.
Guterres called on Member States to agree on a plan to establish, improve and institutionalize the indicator panel. “GDP is not enough. Growth at any cost leaves us all poorer, not richer“, highlights the UN Secretary General.
