The GDP It’s like the speedometer: it tells you if the economy is going fast or slow, but it doesn’t show you if you’re on the right track, or if the car’s tank is running out of gas. In the search for ways to measure economic progress that are alternatives to GDP – which also incorporate the contribution to sustainable, fair and equitable human development –, the Coordinator of NGOs for development has built, together with REEDES, the Index of Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development (ICPDS).
The Index thus incorporates the analysis of policies that contribute positively and negatively to sustainable development, not only at the level of the country itself, but also in third countries and at the level of the entire planet. For all this, the index evaluates each country in 19 public policies that are specified in 57 indicators. The 57 indicators are grouped, in turn, into five components: social, environmental, economic, global and productive.
The 2019 Report assesses 148 countries. The country that occupies the first place is Denmark, with 79.02 points out of 100, while India appears last, with 26.76 points. Spain is in the more than respectable position number 8, faltering in economic and social aspects such as the high unemployment rate, and dropping to position 80 if only the environmental component is considered.
However, the report concludes that the first 8 classified do not serve as development models that can be extended to third countries due to their high ecological footprint. The clearest example of this contradiction is Norway, which, although it is classified in 4th place in the ranking due to its very high economic, social, global and productive performance, causes a serious ecological cost to the planet by exporting oil and natural gas to the world.< /p>