GDP is no longer enough. To assess the level of wealth and actual growth of a country, a new index is needed that is also able to take into account environmental sustainability and social impact. This in short is the concept that emerges from the Communication issued by the European Commission Not only GDP. Measuring progress in a changing world.
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Il GDP it is not enough anymore. To assess the level of wealth and the actual growth of a country, a new index is needed that can also take into account the environmental sustainability and social implications. This in short is the concept that emerges from the Communication issued by the European Commission “Not just GDP. Measuring progress in a changing world “.
The document (downloadable in pdf) puts on paper the reflections that have already emerged in Beyond GDP , - the conference organized for the first time in 2007 by the European Parliament in collaboration with the European Commission,OECD, Club of Romea and the WWF - which, now in its third edition, was born precisely with the aim of discussing about criteria for measuring wealth and development.
THEopportunity for a new indicator able to take into account even the factors more closely linked to well-being, quality of life and environmental sustainability is well illustrated in the two examples brought to the argument by the European Commissioner for the environment Stavros Dimas: "After Hurricane Katrina, which causes '1300 deaths and 80 billion in damage, GDP began to rise in the affected countries ”. And again, “if a country cuts forests it sells a lot of wood and the GDP grows. It is evident that in the long run this will not benefit the country, yet the GDP will grow ".
The Gross Domestic Product, in fact, is the unit of measurement of macroeconomic activity established in the 30s which has now become the standard parameter for measure all economic activities worldwide and the official indicator of progress in general. However, in the face of the many changes that have taken place in contemporary society, it needs a revision that also takes into account other factors, first of all that of environmental sustainability.
Measures to be taken in the short and medium term are thus proposed to improve the definition of policies and public debates. Five main actions identified:
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Complete the GDP with environmental and social indicators: in 2010 a pilot version of a global environmental index and a social indicator will be presented to be integrated into the GDP capable of taking into account factors such as:
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- climate change and energy consumption
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- nature and biodiversity
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- air pollution and health implications
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- use and pollution of water
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- waste production and use of resources
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- income, public services, health, leisure, wealth, mobility
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Step up your efforts for produce environmental and social data faster and update this information almost in real time which, to date, is published every two or three years.
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Commit to provide iMore precise information on distribution and inequalities with policies that measure and take into account, in addition to aggregates such as GDP or GDP per capita, also the disparities between individual citizens.
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Develop one European Sustainable Development Scoreboard, drawn up in collaboration with member states to allow for the rapid determination of environmental trends and the elaboration of targeted intervention strategies.
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Extend national accounts to environmental and social issues: integrate the national accounts with an economic-environmental accounting that will provide completely coherent and updated data to be completed in the longer term, from additional accounts relating to social aspects.
Simona Falasca
