Growth at all costs has led us to a world where inequality is rising, ecological boundaries are being breached, and young people and future generations are left with an uncertain legacy. Even the founding father of GDP, Simon Kuznets, forewarned its limitations to measuring the “welfare of a nation”, including the well-being of people, the health of our environment, and long-term sustainable development. Therefore, it is high time to rethink what we value, how we measure success, and ultimately, how we build economic systems that that produce wealth in a comprehensive way, leading to societies that are more sustainable, inclusive, and just.

To bring the conversation on beyond GDP forward – as a key contribution to the implementation of the Pact for the Future agreed at the UN Summit of the Future – the Beyond Lab and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) jointly convened a “What’s Next on Beyond GDP: A roadmap to inclusive and sustainable economies” on 26 March 2025, in partnership with Thinking Ahead on Societal Change (TASC) platform of the Geneva Graduate Institute, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Rethinking Economics, and International Development Research Centre (IDRC).

The event saw over 100 participants from young people, academic institutions, civil society, Governments, and private sector come together to discuss ways to redefine progress and move beyond GDP as the predominant measure of economic growth and national success. Discussions throughout the event highlighted the urgency of integrating alternative metrics into national legislation and global policy frameworks to complement GDP, as well as the political, institutional and financial challenges that must be addressed to bring about meaningful change. The event also highlighted the importance of ensuring intergenerational equity in the transition to move beyond GDP, and how international collaboration can help to implement changes on a global scale.

‍Key Takeaways  

• Moving from the ‘why’ to the ‘how’: The rationale and evidence, including for alternative metrics beyond GDP is out there. The challenge is translating these approaches and frameworks into actionable policies. Governments must prioritise the integration of alternative measures of progress into national legislation, statistical frameworks, and economic planning, and incentivize capturing data that values well-being, rather than just financial output. ‍
• Overcoming systemic challenges: The transition beyond GDP is not just a technical challenge but a systemic one that requires overcoming deep-rooted structural and institutional barriers. Many economic and governance systems remain locked into outdated frameworks that prioritize short-term financial returns over broader societal well-being. Addressing these challenges requires a fundamental shift in economic thinking, institutional reforms, capacity-building, and financial mechanisms that enable countries—particularly developing nations—to shift towards more sustainable and equitable economic models that prioritize social and environmental investments for the long-term.
• ‍Rethinking debt as a pathway to change: For many developing economies, excessive debt burdens make it nearly impossible to invest in social services, environmental protection, and long-term development. Addressing the global debt crisis through restructuring and relief mechanisms is essential to enable countries to adopt alternative economic models. This also requires rethinking the definition of debt itself, ensuring that financial obligations account for intergenerational well-being and sustainability rather than short-term fiscal constraints.
• ‍Strengthening global leadership: Strong leadership from governments and multilateral institutions is crucial in pushing forward the transition beyond GDP. Without political commitment, meaningful reforms will remain out of reach. The upcoming Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) in Seville and the Second World Summit for Social Development (WSSD2) in Qatar provide critical opportunities to secure international commitments and drive necessary policy reforms at both national and global levels. A global shift beyond GDP also requires international coordination to standardize and implement alternative economic metrics. There is growing support for a UN-led independent committee to establish common frameworks for measuring progress beyond GDP. Such an initiative would facilitate knowledge-sharing, ensure coherence in national policies, and help countries at different stages of economic transformation adopt sustainable and equitable economic models.
• ‍Inclusive decision-making: The transition beyond GDP must not be an elite-driven process. It is essential to ensure that young people and underrepresented communities, and those most affected by economic and environmental crises, are actively involved in shaping policies. Meaningful representation in decision-making is critical to building just and equitable societies, where economic governance reflects the needs and aspirations of all, rather than just the interests of a select few.

The Case for Moving Beyond GDP: Shifting from the why to the how

The research, evidence and reports on why we need to move beyond GDP is well established. A key question for policymakers, however, is how to integrate the various alternative metrics, tools and methods that are out there into national legislation, statistical accounts and frameworks and ultimately create more incentives for policy and decision-makers to value measuring and taking stock of the comprehensive wellbeing of people and planet.  

Özge Aydoğan, Director of the Beyond Lab, set the stage with a compelling call to action, emphasizing the limitations of GDP to account for broader dimensions of human and planetary well-being. The consequences of an unchecked pursuit of growth have led to rising inequality, environmental degradation, and unsustainable economic systems. She emphasized that the movement to redefine progress is not merely an intellectual exercise but a systemic one and called for a mindset shift in the way we think about the economy, from extractivism to regeneration, and to invest in areas that create social and environmental assets for a just and sustainable societies.

Nathalie Bernasconi, Vice-President of IISD, outlined the need to value not just financial or produced capital, but also the natural, social and human capital of an economy that provide a more comprehensive view of wealth. She further reinforced the need for Governments to implement these alternative approaches to measuring progress that are complementary to GDP and called for robust national and global commitments to reform economic frameworks, including at the forthcoming Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4).  

Addressing Structural Barriers: Debt, Development Assistance, and Financial Reform

‍H.E. Ambassador Matthew Wilson of Barbados brought attention to the existing structural obstacles that hinder progress beyond GDP. He identified three critical issues—debt, development assistance, and financial reform—arguing that nations should not be forced to choose between economic growth and the well-being of their citizens. For many developing economies, excessive debt obligations leave little fiscal space for investment in education, healthcare, and environmental protection. He emphasized that debt relief and restructuring mechanisms, such as natural disaster clauses and green financing, are essential for enabling countries to adopt alternative economic models that prioritize sustainability and social equity. Ambassador Wilson also warned against excluding small states from global economic conversations. He stressed that while GDP fails to reflect the true well-being of societies, alternative metrics must not inadvertently disadvantage smaller economies. Barbados has pioneered efforts in this space, promoting financing mechanisms that integrate human rights, climate resilience, and sustainable development.

Minister-Counsellor Karin Goebel of Germany further reiterated that the 2030 Agenda must remain a central commitment to all, and that progress beyond GDP must be integrated into national and international governance. Germany in particular, has been supporting efforts to better understand the global implications of its economic policies, referencing a recent study and online tool released by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), which analyses how trade and finance decisions in one country, have social, environmental and economic spillover impacts elsewhere. Such initiatives could be replicated and scaled to ensure that the transition beyond GDP aligns with global equity and long-term sustainability goals.

Innovative and Alternative Measurements to GDP

Panelists from New Zealand, OECD, and UNCTAD shared insights into national and regional efforts to operationalize alternative tools, metrics, methods and approaches to complement GDP. Brad Olsen, Chief Economist of New Zealand, discussed New Zealand’s Living Standards Framework, which integrates measures of well-being into economic policy at both national and local levels. He noted that incorporating community perspectives and private sector input has strengthened the framework’s implementation, ensuring it remains more objective than subjective.

Lara Fleischer of the OECD highlighted the progress made by two-thirds of OECD countries in developing national well-being initiatives. OECD’s Well-Being Framework, Database, and Knowledge Exchange Platform have also been instrumental in supporting governments with case studies and best-practice guidance on integrating beyond-GDP metrics into policy decisions.

Livia Bizikova of IISD, stressed upon the need to look at comprehensive wealth as an alternative to GDP. She brought her expertise and insights from IISD’s work on comprehensive wealth, which has examined long-term economic trends in Ethiopia, Indonesia, and Trinidad and Tobago. The findings illustrate how alternative indicators, encompassing natural, human, financial, produced, and social capital, present a far more accurate picture of economic sustainability than GDP alone.

The Role of Multilateralism and Intergenerational Perspectives

The recent Pact for the Future adopted at the UN Summit of the Future, building on the Sustainable Development Goals, was seen by many as a milestone to advance multilateral efforts to move beyond GDP. However, the need for greater implementation of global commitments was emphasised. One step forward has been the UN Secretary-General’s call to establish a high-level expert group to identify and standardize alternative indicators to measure progress beyond GDP, co-led by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Anu Peltola, Director of Statistics of UNCTAD, further pointed to efforts to improve national statistical accounting to measure what we value, including the 2025 update to the UN’s System of National Accounts, which will integrate digitalization and well-being considerations into economic reporting, such as net measures that account for the depletion of natural resources due to production, as well as metrics to measure well-being, equality, sustainability, participatory governance, ethical and innovative economies, and resilience. She also highlighted how John Maynard Keynes in his work ‘Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren (1930)’ estimated that by 2030 technology would enable us to work only 15 hours a week. This prediction seems to be a lifetime away from us right now.  

The discussions repeatedly returned to the importance of breaking down the inter-generational ‘glass ceiling’ through equal intergenerational engagement and co-creation in shaping the future of economic measurement and policy. Emiliana Rickenmann, co-founder of Latina’s for Climate, emphasized that economic justice is inseparable from climate and social justice. She pointed out that despite youth being frequently cited as the future, they remain largely excluded from decision-making processes. She called for stronger representation and integration of young voices in global economic governance and warned against tokenistic inclusion, where youth are invited to participate only symbolically.

The audience echoed these concerns, questioning how meaningful intergenerational equity can be achieved when policymaking remains predominantly in the hands of older generations also with a certain geographic bias. Participants emphasized the need for policies that actively empower young leaders and integrate their perspectives into economic governance and decision-making structures.

Looking Ahead

As the event concluded, participants reflected on the path forward on moving from the what to the how, with TASC leading an interactive discussion on how the transition to moving beyond GDP can come to fruition, including in the lead up to FfD4 and the Second World Summit for Social Development (WSSD2) in Qatar, and how to take account of intergenerational perspectives and participation.

A common thread across discussions was the necessity of redefining success beyond GDP and institutionalizing alternative measures of progress. One of the clearest takeaways was that while significant theoretical work has been done, the challenge now is to translate these insights into practical policy applications.

Political will remains a crucial factor, with many speakers emphasizing that change will not come without strong leadership from governments and multilateral institutions. The upcoming Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) in Seville and the Second World Summit on Social Development in Doha represent critical opportunities to push for reforms.

Debt restructuring (and re-definition) emerged as a key enabler of this transition, particularly for developing economies that are currently constrained by financial obligations. Without addressing the global debt crisis, many countries will struggle to implement policies that prioritize well-being over short-term economic growth. This might also require rethinking how we define debt to integrate an inter-generational perspective.  

Another major recommendation was to expand multilateral cooperation on alternative economic indicators. The call for an independent UN-led committee to standardize and promote beyond-GDP metrics gained strong support. Such an initiative could ensure coherence across national policies and facilitate knowledge-sharing between countries at different stages of economic transformation.

Finally, the event emphasized the necessity of centering youth and underrepresented communities in economic decision-making. Participants stressed that the transition beyond GDP must not be an elite-driven process but one that actively involves those most affected by economic and environmental crises, such as young people. Ensuring their meaningful representation in policymaking will be crucial for securing a just and inclusive future.

With these insights and commitments in mind, the Beyond Lab will continue to advance discussions on Beyond GDP, with a view to shaping global efforts toward a more holistic, equitable, and sustainable vision of progress, where we value trees not when they are cut down, but what they are worth while standing tall.  

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