Green GDP

U.S. national accounts are critical to decisionmaking because they measure what is bought and sold in markets, such as fuel, trees, and fish. But what about the natural economy? Is our ecological wealth larger or smaller today than four years ago? Our nation lacks a system of biophysical and economic measures to hold leaders accountable for the protection and provision of environmental public goods. 

CMEW is working with several partners, including the World Bank, to help develop national environmental accounts, such as green gross domestic product (green GDP). These accounts would capture and track the status of environmental public goods and services and measure the environmental consequences of economic growth. If appropriately constructed and maintained, a green GDP would help us link market consumption to decreased availability of public goods, act as an early warning system for losses in environmental public goods, and promote policy experimentation.