Beyond GDP – how can we measure progress?
Natural capital is the term used to put an economic value on nature’s goods and services.
If businesses and governments are to invest in a green economy, we need to be able to measure progress. Help discuss the issues and share your ideas about how we might best achieve this.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is a universal but crude measure of a country’s economic activity and output. But it takes no account of the appreciation or deprecation of a country’s building infrastructure, or of the condition of its natural capital (land, soils, the diversity of plants, animals and life) and the ecosystem services provided by the environment (such as crop pollination).
Furthermore, GDP is no measure of the health, wealth, or wellbeing of a country’s population, or how these are distributed across society.
While GDP remains the most important measure for international financing, alternative measures are needed for sustainable development. What alternatives account for the wellbeing of the environment and local people, providing indicators for investing in a green economy?
Watch the debate
A panel of leading experts chaired by Richard Black, the BBC's environment correspondent, discussed the issues at a live debate at the Natural History Museum on 22 February 2012. You will be able to watch a video of the debate online from 24 February 2012.
What do you think?
Share your thoughts and leave a comment below.
The panel
- Emily Benson, a project manager for the Green Economy Coalition
- Hannah Ryder, a senior UK government economist in the Department for International Development advising on low-carbon and climate-resilient economic growth in developing countries
- Andrew Simms, author and Fellow of the New Economics Foundation
- Paul Simpson, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Carbon Disclosure Project
Have your say
We'd like you to join in the discussions. Ask the panel your questions and share your views:
- in our Earth Debates forum and at the bottom of the page
- on Twitter using the hashtag #earthdebates
Take part now and show you care about building a future where we can live peacefully and sustainably on this planet.
Watch the debates live online
Each Earth Debate will be webcast live.
The next debate is Green cities in a green economy – how to pioneer a sustainable transition?
