Humanity is at a crossroads. Social, economic and environmental crises that have played out in recent years offer a unique opportunity for a step change in the way humanity does business.
Although the concept of the ‘green economy’ was introduced to address today’s challenges, its continued dependence on traditional – and questionable – trickle-down economic growth theory has rendered it inadequate.
A fast-growing population, rapidly diminishing resources and planetary boundaries are forcing humanity to find innovative ways to use resources more efficiently, to work within the limits of the Earth’s natural capital, and to make fundamental changes to our economic systems.
This policy brief sets out the guidelines for the social and technological transformations needed for a new economic system, as well as the new ways in which we will need to measure and monitor this system.
- The current confluence of crises offers us a unique opportunity to fundamentally change our economic system.
- This change must be accompanied by a social transformation that is driven by the new system itself.
- The technological transformation must be a bottom-up approach driven by capacity within countries and taking into account the social and cultural conditions unique to each country.
- Measurement of progress must move away from an economics based yardstick to a multidimensional indicator.
- There also needs to be a move away from production and consumption towards inclusive wealth at the macro level and instrumental freedoms at the individual level.
- Lastly, the notion of global responsibility for improving the well-being of all individuals across the planet, irrespective of country or region, needs to be the doctrine of a new international order of governance.