It’s time to replace the metric by which much of the world historically measures economic well-being: gross domestic product (GDP). The drive for ever-increasing GDP expansion fuels environmental mistakes and worsens the lives of billions of people.
Instead of paying attention to GDP, governments are focused on creating a human rights economy that builds an economic formula that allows everyone to realize their human rights on a livable planet.
Fundamentally converting our economic formula proves to be an insurmountable challenge. But there are concrete steps that states and foreign institutions can take to build an economic formula that enables progress for all, not just some, and that preserves our environment.
The missing element in the foreign formula is human rights. A human rights economy is experienced at the local level: through all Americans enjoying their rights, such as quality public services, universal social security formulas, fair and decent wages, and safe operating conditions, not to mention a planet habitable, but it becomes imaginable at the local point. Go global by rewriting the regulations of the global economic formula to distribute the world’s resources more equitably among countries.
Taking steps toward a human rights economy was the theme of a meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council on July 2. Governments from four regions (Malaysia, Gambia, Chile, Panama, and Spain) have joined the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and eight civil society organizations working for economic justice, Human Rights Watch added. on the sidelines of a consultation by the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC). It builds on similar discussions that took a position at the HRC consultation in October 2023 and at an HRC interconsultative assembly in January 2024, reflecting the dynamics of change. About 80 more people attended, as well as representatives from 25 states.
In the session of July 2, the inadequacies of GDP alone as a measure of the situation of countries and citizens were a recurring theme. In her opening remarks, Malaysia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Dato’ Nadzirah Osman, said her country seeks to “work with like-minded countries and foreign organizations to promote a more just and sustainable global economic order based on the principles of human rights. “Malaysia is determined to play its role in this transformation. Fostering an economy that prioritizes well-being over If we achieve undeniable GDP growth, we can build a fairer, more equitable and more sustainable world for all.
Olivier de Schutter, UN special rapporteur on excessive poverty and human rights, made similar comments. “For decades, GDP expansion has been the dominant technique for eliminating poverty, but it has never lived up to its promise and has devastated our planet,” he said. “A concrete step that can be taken to achieve a ‘human rights economy’ ‘ is to update GDP and expand it with human rights-based measures of progress: addressing the demanding situations of the climate crisis, addressing inequality and eliminating poverty . »
Surya Deva, the United Nations special rapporteur on the right to progression, told the meeting that the existing style of economic progression has serious deficits, as poverty is not reduced enough and inequalities are increasing: the benefits of economic expansion are not shared equitably. He stated that the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is as vital as the right to progression. In addition, “there is not enough or significant participation of the population in policies, plans and projects for advancement, which generates social conflicts and attacks on human rights defenders. Faced with these progression deficits, we are looking for a new style of economic progression.
Todd Howland, head of OHCHR’s Division of Development, Economic and Social Rights, said other people hear that the economy is growing, “but they see that their opportunities, their education, their physical condition and their well-being are negatively affected. They see that some are doing well and others are doing worse. A human rights-based economy puts human rights back into the political equation so that everyone benefits from the economy.