Re-imagining how we measure the economy (for the future we want)

The Covid-19 pandemic has revealed the precariousness of our economies. It has called into question the measures used by governments to guide economic performance which, for many, did not reflect or deliver many of the things we valued during lockdown: family, health, community, and nature. An unprecedented window exists to question how we could design an economy to deliver more of these things in future. If metrics like GDP do not capture what we value, what alternatives exist and how could we accelerate their adoption?

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Access the three-minute read of the discussion

This covers:

FWW Discussion 2 overview
    • Current measures used by governments to guide economic performance, their origins and limitations
    • Developing a new economic system which includes the right kind of measurements (as alternative to current GDP system)
    • Reconsidering the underlying support system of our economic model
    • The potential of the Green Deal for “competitive sustainability and resilience”
    • Mainstreaming environmental, social and governance issues which are beginning to drive investment beliefs

            "We are working on this because it is the right thing to do. We are not only professionals; we are not only managers. We are all fathers, sisters, brothers, mothers. We want to be on the right side of history. Be part of the solution and not a part of the problem."

            Idar Kreutzer, CEP Finans Norge

            "It takes a village. It’s not just the financial community, not just the regulators, not just the consumer pressure. Too often we get reductionist about this…What I see happening is we are getting surround sound. Pressure on the consumer side, governments starting to listen, more companies concerned about it either because they think it is the right thing to do or they are worried about reputational risk."

            Robin Millington, CEO, Planet Tracker

            "The best approach is to have a dashboard of indicators. We can all drive a car and have a dashboard with five or six different dials telling us five or six different important things, and we can assimilate that information to make decisions in the car. We should be able to do at least as well for the national economy."

            Matthew Agarwala, Project Leader, Bennett Institute for Public Policy

            Speakers: 

            Matthew Agarwala

            Matthew Agarwala, Project Leader, Bennett Institute for Public Policy. 

            Matthew is an environmental economist interested in wealth-based approaches to measuring and delivering sustainable development. His research is motivated by the belief that 20th century statistics can’t capture 21st century progress. Matthew is Project Leader for the Bennett Institute’s wealth economy project, which seeks to transform economic measurement to better reflect sustainability, inequality, and human wellbeing. Initially, the project will focus on natural and social capital.

            Celine Charveriat

            Céline Charveriat, Executive Director, Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP). 

            A gifted researcher and passionate advocate, Céline Charveriat has over 15 years’ worth of experience in influencing debates, policies, and practices in the field of sustainable development and climate change. She is the Executive Director at IEEP since 2016.

            Idar Kreutzer

            Idar Kreutzer, CEO, Finans Norge.

            He was CEO of Storebrand from 2000 to 2012. Kreutzer has held a number of different board positions, and is currently chairman of the board of Aschehoug Forlag and board member at the University of Oslo. He is a member of the Norwegian Business School's Advisory Board. In October 2018, Kreutzer submitted his report on access to risk capital in the Nordic region, on behalf of the Nordic Council of Ministers. From June 2015 to October 2016, he chaired the Government's expert committee on green competitiveness, and he is a member of the Climate and Environment Minister's Climate Council.

            Robin Millington

            Robin Millington, CEO, Planet Tracker. 

            Robin brings deep experience of working on global issues requiring transformative change. She has worked extensively in the climate, land-use and food sectors, most recently with the EAT and European Climate Foundations. She brings senior management experience in philanthropy and industry, having headed organisations including the Centre for European Policy Studies and Wetlands International.

            Mashudu Ramano

            Mashudu Ramano, Founder & CEO, Mitochondria Energy Company.

            Mashudu is an entrepreneur in transition to sustainable entrepreneurship, an aspirant futurist and an adherent, advocate, agent, promoter and student of sustainability, symbiotic existence and transdisciplinary studies and director of companies with extensive experience in listed and unlisted companies in South Africa.

            Jake Reynolds

            Chair: Dr Jake Reynolds, Executive Director, Sustainable Economy, CISL.

            Jake is responsible for CISL’s research, including the pioneering Prince of Wales Global Sustainability Fellowship Programme. He also acts as a senior advisor to CISL’s Centre for Sustainable Finance which develops practical thought leadership through long-running collaborations with the investment, banking and insurance industries and financial policymakers. 

            Find out more about how CISL's Centre for Business Transformation is helping companies play a transformative role towards a sustainable economy. Contact us if you would like to join our Rewiring the Economy Inquiry into rewiring business.