Aligning the UK’s economic goals with environmental sustainability | EAC inquiry

media | news | February 16, 2022

Tim Jackson giving evidence to UK Parliament on the limits to GDP and ways to measure real progress
9 February 2022

Video: https://parliamentlive.tv

On 9 February 2022, CUSP director Tim Jackson gave oral evidence to the UK Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) on their beyond GPD inquiry: Aligning the UK’s economic goals with environmental sustainability.

The EAC’s remit is to consider the extent to which policies and programmes of UK government departments and non-departmental public bodies contribute to environmental protection and sustainable development, and to audit their performance against sustainable development and environmental protection targets. The EAC invited experts and NGOs to discuss how the UK Government could incorporate environmental sustainability into its leading measures of UK economic success.

Following a call to written submissions, Tim Jackson was invited to address questions around measuring progress and prosperity, the growth dependency of the economy, and the limitations of the ‘inclusive wealth’ concept. Other witnesses on the day included: Dr Matthew Agarwala, University of Cambridge; Signe Norberg, Aldersgate Group; Jeremy Peat OBE, The Royal Society of Edinburgh; and Nick Spencer, Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.

This post first appeared on the CUSP website, 4 February 2022.