"On their deathbed, no one will regret not having contributed enough to GDP"
Sustainable development, as outlined in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), is grounded in the principle of intergenerational equity. This principle asserts that the needs of the present must be met without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. However, political, social, and economic decisions often prioritize short-term gains over long-term sustainability.
A clear example of this is the traditional reliance on gross domestic product (GDP) as the primary measure of progress, development, and well-being. However, GDP overlooks critical aspects of sustainable development—namely social, human, and natural capital—and fails to account for future implications. By prioritizing short-term, extractive economic goals, GDP neglects these vital dimensions of sustainability, contributing to unsustainable practices, negative long-term spillover effects, and a “debt to future generations” which compromises both human well-being and the planet’s long-term viability.
As those who inherit our economic systems, young people and the needs of future generations must play a central role in shaping the transition to a framework on measures of progress on sustainable development to complement and go beyond GDP.
In partnership with Rethinking Economics International and UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the objective of the “Youth Moving Beyond GDP” initiative is to foster inclusive and transformative engagement of young people and to promote the needs and interests of future generations in designing measures of progress on sustainable development to complement and go beyond GDP.
Specifically, the initiative seeks to empower young people through meaningful engagement in policymaking, and integrate their perspectives and the needs of future generations into global convenings and processes on measures that complement or go beyond GDP —thereby “breaking the intergenerational glass ceiling” in economic discourse.
In alignment with the Pact for the Future, which reaffirms the need to urgently develop a framework on such measures (action 53), this initiative aims to advance intergenerational equity for long-term sustainability by:
Inclusive Engagement: Meaningful and inclusive engagement of young people and integration of their perspectives and the needs of future generations in convenings and processes on measures that complement or go beyond GDP.
Intergenerationally Equitable Policy Recommendations: Policy recommendations from young people, including on the needs of future generations, on how to complement or go beyond GDP, building on the insights from the global youth Essay Competition.
Youth Network on Beyond GDP: A global Youth Network and a “sounding board” for Member States and experts on recommendations for measures that complement or go beyond GDP.
Grassroots Engagement for Sustainable Change: Engagement activities, ensuring that the perspectives of young people and the needs of future generations remain central to the UN-led intergovernmental and national processes, providing a sustained bottom-up approach to reshaping economic systems.
The "Youth Moving Beyond GDP" initiative stems from the Beyond Lab’s "What’s Next" on Rethinking Economic Systems for Long-term Sustainability, organized in November 2023, which explored how concepts such as beyond GDP can refocus economic systems to support people (both current and future generations) and the planet.
In February 2024, the initiative kicked off with the global youth Essay Competition "What Counts in the Future? A Youth Perspective on Measuring What We Value". The competition invited young people to share their perspectives on values and priorities for frameworks that complement or move beyond GDP. Over 600 essays were submitted, with the top five winners invited to a high-level dialogue in Geneva in April 2024. The insights gathered from this competition form the initiative's foundation.
Since then, multiple dialogues, including an official side event of the Summit of the Future Action Days in September 2024, have been held to formally launch the initiative and ensure that the voices of young people and future generations are central to policymaking.
The Beyond Lab together with Rethinking Economics International and the UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) launched a joint call for essays aimed at young people on beyond GDP.
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