Shift to a Wellbeing Economy: put the health of people and planet first
The Parliament petitions site records 67,909 signatures for this petition, which closed on 26 September 2021. The Government responded on 25 May 2021.
The petition
The petition's creator is not named in the Petitions site's published record. Quoted in full from the UK Parliament petitions site.
Shift to a Wellbeing Economy: put the health of people and planet first
We urgently need the Government to prioritise the health and wellbeing of people and planet, by pursuing a Wellbeing Economy approach. To deliver a sustainable and equitable recovery, the Treasury should target social and environmental goals, rather than fixating on short-term profit and growth.
A narrow focus on GDP growth has led us to environmental, health and financial crises. The UK is the 6th largest economy in the world, yet roughly a third of our children live in poverty. Two thirds of the public want the Treasury to put wellbeing above growth. Scotland and Wales are already part of the Wellbeing Economy Governments alliance. As host of the COP26 climate summit, the UK Government should build and champion a Wellbeing Economy - at home and globally.
The Government's response
The Government published its response on 25 May 2021; the petitions site lists the HM Treasury as responsible. Its summary:
While traditional economic measures such as GDP remain important, the government is committed to broadening the range of measures it uses, including by better accounting for natural and human capital.
The opening 312 words of the 613-word response:
Traditional economic measures, such as GDP, remain some of the most useful indicators of economic performance. GDP is closely correlated with employment, incomes and tax receipts and is comparable across time periods, making it useful for the government and Bank of England when setting economic policy and managing the public finances. During the current COVID-19 pandemic for example, GDP, along with a wide range of other economic indicators, has been used to inform government action aimed at mitigating the damaging effects of the pandemic on peoples’ wellbeing by supporting their jobs and livelihoods.
Nonetheless, the government recognises that GDP has its limitations and should not be seen as an all-encompassing measure of welfare – in fact this is something that GDP was never designed to be.
Sir Charles Bean’s 2016 Independent Review of Economic Statistics acknowledged some of GDP’s limitations, such as the challenge of capturing activities where no market transaction takes place and the fact that GDP estimates make no allowance for the depletion of natural resources that may be inherent in many forms of economic production. The full report can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/507081/2904936_Bean_Review_Web_Accessible.pdf
The government fully supported the recommendations of the Bean review and, to date, has provided the ONS with an additional £25m to help improve UK economic statistics - including through an initiative called “Beyond GDP” that aims to address the limitations in GDP by developing broader measures of welfare and activity.
This includes developing a suite of personal well-being measures, better accounting for unpaid work and developing estimates for natural and human capital. More information on this initiative can be found here. https://blog.ons.gov.uk/2018/10/01/beyond-gdp-how-ons-is-developing-wider-measures-of-the-uk-economy/
As a result of this work, last year the UK became one of the first countries to publish natural capital accounts and these are now included in the UK National Accounts Blue Book. The ONS has also started to publish human capital accounts.
Read the full response on the petitions site.
Source and receipt
- https://petition.parliament.uk/archived/petitions.json?state=with_response&page=9UK Parliament Petitions API · read 2026-10-15 · SHA-256
5ee81238e36e8f70… - The petition on petition.parliament.uk
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