Beyond growth — why we need to agree on an alternative to GDP now
Daniel W. O’Neill et al.
Faculty of Economics and Business
For decades, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has shaped how governments evaluate progress. However, GDP was never designed to capture societal wellbeing. It counts only market transactions, treats social and environmental costs as if they were benefits, and overlooks the contributions of households, communities, and nature.
Hundreds of beyond-GDP indicators already exist, but progress has been slow. Paradoxically, the proliferation of alternative measures has helped GDP retain its status by creating the illusion that there is little agreement among these approaches. In fact, there is much that alternatives to GDP agree on. In the article, published in Nature, the authors identify important areas of common ground and propose four ways forward.
Professor Daniel W. O’Neill says: “We need an alternative to GDP now because humanity is overshooting seven of the nine planetary boundaries that define a safe operating space for development on this planet. At the same time, billions of people worldwide are still unable to meet their basic needs. Our article in Nature was published to coincide with the COP30 climate change conference in Belém, Brazil. If we are to limit global warming to a safe level, then we need to move beyond the pursuit of GDP growth in wealthy nations like Spain, and adopt new measures of progress that prioritize sustainable and inclusive human wellbeing”.
Article published in Nature.