UN Secretary-General appoints High-Level Expert Group on Beyond GDP

From News Desk

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António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres, The Secretary-General of the UN has appointed an independent high-level expert group to develop recommendations for measures that complement or go beyond Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The appointment of the expert group follows a request by Member States in the Pact for the Future and reflects a shared and long-standing goal. When adopting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015, Member States committed to the development of measures of progress that complement GDP by 2030. They did so in recognition that GDP, which is heavily relied upon as a gauge of prosperity and is the basis for government targets and rankings, provides an incomplete picture of the different dimensions of sustainable development.

“This initiative could not be timelier. Every day, we witness the consequences of our failure to balance economic, social and environmental dimensions of development,” the Secretary-General said. “To achieve the progress we need, the well-being of people and the planet must be at the centre of what we measure and value. Measures that complement GDP can enable a paradigm shift in policymaking that refocuses efforts on sustainable development and prosperity for all,” he underscored.

In Our Common Agenda and the supporting policy brief on Valuing What Counts: Framework to Progress Beyond Gross Domestic Product, the Secretary-General elaborated the case for this initiative. He emphasised the need to overcome a “harmful anachronism” at the heart of global policy making, in which our current metrics overlook many aspects that contribute to human well-being, while at the same time valuing some activities that harm people and planet. Complementary metrics are therefore crucial to expand the data on which policy decisions and prioritisations are made. Ultimately, these metrics can drive behavior change in how societies think about and pursue progress.

In the Pact for the Future, Member States recognised that “sustainable development must be pursued in a balanced and integrated manner” and requested the creation of an Expert Group to identify complementary metrics. Today’s announcement marks an important step in this endeavor.

About the High-Level Expert Group

The expert group will be tasked with elaborating a conceptual framework that identifies key dimensions of progress; and developing an initial list of corresponding country-owned, universally-applicable indicators of sustainable development to form a dashboard that equips governments with the information they need. In addition, it will provide guidance on the deployment of the dashboard to maximize its uptake and on priorities for data collection and statistical capacity to operationalise the dashboard and indicators.

The expert group will closely consult with Member States and key stakeholders throughout the process, taking into account the work of the UN Statistical Commission and building on the global indicator framework for the SDGs. The high-level expert group will present the outcome of its work during the eightieth session of the General Assembly, which will inform a subsequent intergovernmental process.

The 14 members of the independent Expert Group represent eminent scholars and experts from various domains, as well as reflecting gender and geographical diversity. The expert group will be led by two co-chairs, Kaushik Basu and Nora Lustig and be supported by a technical secretariat composed of staff from the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), the UN Conference for Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the Executive Office of the Secretary-General (EOSG).

High-Level Expert Group Members

The high-level expert group members, all working in their personal capacity, include –