Informal meeting of the plenary to hear a briefing of the SG's report on Beyond GDP - General Assembly, 80th session General Assembly Date: 4 March 2026 Language: English Transcript: https://transcripts.un.org/en/asset/k1i/k1iazqdqnt Transcripts available through this tool are created by using automatic speech recognition and are not official records nor official documents of the United Nations. Official records and official documents are available on the Official Document System of the United Nations. --- GA · PGA [0:02]: Good afternoon. Good to see those of you again who have been here in the room also in the morning. Welcome to everybody else. I call to order the informal meeting of the plenary to hear a briefing on the report of the Secretary-General on Beyond GDP. I warmly welcome all of you to this meeting, and I will now make a statement as the President of the General Assembly. Excellencies, dear colleagues, Madam Deputy Secretary General, distinguished co-chairs of the expert group who are online or will be online very soon with us. The GDP, so gross domestic product, has served as a dominant measure of economic process and progress prior even to the founding of the United Nations. Yet, already the founder of the modern concept of the GDP, Simon Kuznets cautioned, I quote, "The welfare of a nation can scarcely be inferred from a measure of national income." Anyway, the world and its biggest economies continue to use a measure of economic performance based solely on economic output. Yet, failing to measure the health of our people, the resilience of our societies, and the sustainability of our planet leads to the cynical situation, I would call it, that GDP even tends to increase during crises, national disasters, and even war. Because when government spending boosts and industrial activities increases, then also GDP grows. even though no one would ever call this a positive economic situation. So a healthy measure or a new measure of prosperity is long overdue. Member States recognize this in the Pact for the Future, which in Action 53 mandated the creation of a high-level expert group on beyond GDP. tasked with developing a dashboard of indicators complementing GDP and providing a more comprehensive picture of progress. Followed by the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development and the Second World Summit for Social Development, the expert group has already identified domains and indicators for further discussion, including health and education, environmental quality, material and subjective well-being, and social capital and governance. These indicators will paint a picture that reflects not merely aggregated economic output, but people's lived daily realities. The High-Level Expert Group has made significant progress towards this goal. It has conducted intensive consultations with thousands of stakeholders, including governments, civil society, academia, international financial institutions, and the UN system. These diverse inputs form the basis of this interim report presented at the World Social Summit, which lays the groundwork for its final recommendations. And I thank the Member States for your continued support for this agenda, including your active participation in consultations and commitment to launch an intergovernmental process following the presentation of final recommendations. In this regard, I'm pleased to announce that I intend to appoint co-facilitators to oversee this process following the official launch of the report at the end of April. This is fundamentally a Member State-driven initiative with the General Assembly at the center. Its success will depend on your sustained ownership, dialogue, and political leadership, and will serve as an important step in advancing the implementation of the Pact for the Future. Excellencies, colleagues, today we face interconnected and compounding crises, from climate change to rising inequality to declining trust in institutions. In this context, how we measure progress determines how we shape our policy responses. If GDP has long been the speed motor of our economies, the work before us is to design a more complete dashboard of progress. One that tells us not only how fast we are moving, but whether we are moving in the right and in a sustainable direction. Moving beyond GDP is not about abandoning growth. The opposite. It's about redefining sustainable, lasting growth and progress for the people, so that it reflects the well-being of our people, the health of our planet, and the stability of our societies. I look forward to today's exchange and to our continued engagement as we move toward the next phase of this very important work. And I thank the co-chairs of the working group for their incredibly important task ahead. I now give the floor to the Deputy Secretary General, Her Excellency Amina Mohamed. And Amina, I hope you're doing well. UN Secretariat · DSG [5:27]: Thank you. Thank you very much, Madam President. I hope you can hear and see me, but thank you for your opening remarks, your steadfast support to this initiative, and to the full implementation of the commitments that we made together at the Pact for the Future. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for being here with us today. As agreed in the Pact for the Future, Member States had mandated the Secretary-General to establish an independent high-level expert group with a very clear task. to recommend broader measures of progress that complement and go beyond GDP. You asked us to present the outcome of that work during the current session of the General Assembly and agreed that the launch of the expert group report should trigger an intergovernmental process to deliberate on its recommendations, with the goal of agreeing concrete steps that would try to operationalise and institutionalise beyond-GDP measures. You all gave us this mandate for good reason. GDP, but not what we value. The reality of people's lives depends on far more than the goods and services that we exchange. It depends on well-being, on equity, on living in a sustainable planet, and whether the progress we make today can endure for our children and grandchildren. After decades of studies and initiatives on this question, We finally have both the lessons learned, the knowledge, and the tools to move decisively, and the United Nations provides the right setting to agree global norms on how we do this. In other words, this is the time and place to act. Last May, we briefed you immediately after we announced the expert group's launch. 10 months on, we are really pleased to report significant progress, and it has been a complex and difficult journey. Joining us today are the two co-chairs of the expert group, Professor Basu and Professor Lustig, who are in the final stages of shaping their recommendations after an intense process of research, consultation, and I can tell you, many a debate. I have been fortunate to walk part of this journey with this illustrious group, so I can speak from experience. The wisdom, the creativity, and the ambition that they have brought to this task has been remarkable. And so I'd like to take a moment to thank them and the full membership of the expert group for their extraordinary work. Thank you, Prof. Beyond their own deliberations, the group has conducted extensive outreach. They have listened to stakeholders across sectors and regions. They've engaged with a wide range of perspectives. They have ensured transparency at every stage. Today's briefing is further testament to that open, inclusive approach. I will turn to the co-chairs in a moment so they can share more about the process they have led and the ideas emerging from the group, building on the interim report they published in November at the World Summit for Social Development in Doha. But before I do that, let me outline the proposed four next steps. First, the launch. We anticipate the release of the expert group's report at the end of April, and the launch will take place here in New York. Second, Member States engagement. In the weeks leading up to and beyond the launch, we will continue to keep you informed and engaged. Earlier this week, a special forum on Beyond GDP was held by the UN Statistical Commission, bringing together national statisticians from around the world, supported by GESA. Beyond GDP will be discussed at the ongoing annual convenings of the Regional Economic Commissions. Our resident coordinator offices have also been activated to brief their government counterparts and the key stakeholders on how this work is progressing. Third, the intergovernmental process. Following the launch, we will work with the President of the General Assembly to support the intergovernmental process. And I encourage every one of you to engage fully. Use the process to deepen your understanding of the issues, scrutinize the expert group recommendations, work together to agree the best possible way forward. And fourth, early action on the ground. As the intergovernmental process gets underway, the UN will work with member states to initiate early engagement of Beyond GDP measures in countries. This will generate real world learning, build the confidence in the tools and keep momentum behind this initiative. Excellencies, we do have a genuine opportunity to equip every country with a better compass for policy making. A compass that reflects what people truly value, that captures what sustains wellbeing over time. One that points us towards inclusive, resilient economies built for this generation and the ones that will follow. And that's what we are here to do. I look forward very much to working with each of you to make this a reality. Thank you. GA · PGA [10:37]: I thank the Deputy Secretary General. And due to the internet connection, thank you that you turned off your camera, then we could hear you way better. And thanks for joining us online. I now give the floor to Mr. Kaushik Basu, Karl Marx Professor of International Study at Cornell University and co-chair of the High-Level Expert Group on Beyond GDP. Mr. Basu, thank you for your work and thank you for your input. Co-Chair [11:09]: Thank you very much. Madam President, Deputy Secretary General, my co-chair, Nora Lustig, your excellencies. It is a pleasure and an honor to be here. I speak in my capacity as one of the co-chairs of the Secretary-General's High-Level Expert Group on Beyond GDP. Since our appointment in May 2025, we have been working to develop a limited set of universally applicable, country-owned indicators reflecting the multidimensional nature of sustainable development, and I emphasize the adjectives because they are important, in line with our mandate from the Pact for the Future. The HLEG is composed of 14 experts from diverse academic and policy backgrounds. And since I played no role in setting up the team, I can assure you it's really a top quality of expertise brought together. And this is supported by a UN-led secretariat, which has been just excellent for the work. Our goal throughout our mandate was to balance academic rigor and usefulness for policy matters. The GDP is a very, very complex concept which developed over a long period. So we do need the academic expertise to do a fine job of taking it beyond that to something larger. At the same time, this is meant for policymakers who can put this to use. We asked ourselves right at the beginning, what have we learned from our beyond GDP initiatives over the last decades and what has emerged that needs to be reflected in our work. You know, what is measured, what is reported, very often triggers competition. And we want to trigger the right kind of competition, that countries are striving for something which contributes to human welfare, planetary well-being, and that was at the core of this work. The timeline for us was as follows. The development of conceptual framework happened over the fall. It was a lot of work, lots of, as you would expect, intense debates, discussions, disagreements, ultimately agreements on a variety of important matters. The launch of the interim report happened at the World Social Summit in November, where both Nora and I were there and several others, of course. Consolidation of the indicator dashboard happened earlier this year. It did take a lot of time because we want it to be consistent, we want it to be logically right and represent all the important measures. Launch of the final report, as was just pointed out by Madam President, is going to be, the Deputy Secretary General, is going to happen in April, May, that's when we are getting into the final lap. And parallel track to our substantive deliberations consisted of consultations. We had very, very wide consultations across bodies of statisticians, policymakers, academics. bringing in ideas from diverse points of view, but we have tried to put together as well as possible. And through all this process, there has been a certain amount of satisfaction that we are beginning to provide some indicators and guidelines towards a better competition and a better world. I should now pass this on to the co-chair, Nora Lustig. GA · PGA [15:11]: I thank you, Mr. Basu. And now I give the floor to Ms. Nora Lustig, Samuel S. Stone Professor Emeritus of Latin American Economics at Tulane University and co-chair of the High-Level Expert Group on Beyond GDP. Ms. Lustig. Co-Chair [15:31]: Yes. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Thank you very much for your words, and thank you very much, Amin, again, for your kind words. We did do a lot of work, indeed, in a short period of time. And I wanted to start by saying one thing. This has to be seen as a process. This is the beginning of a process. Our recommendations should not be seen as something that is unmovable. We want to continue the discussion. because there may be ideas that we missed. We also think we need to continue the discussion because matters that were not important now may be important in the future. And we also will need to continue the discussion because things that we thought we couldn't measure today might be measurable in the future. So I want to emphasize that we have to view this as a process. In the consultations, it was really reassuring to hear that our ideas are broadly shared. They're broadly shared both in terms of principles and also in terms of the domains of well-being and the emphasis we're giving to different aspects of our proposal. So there seems to be some convergence, at least among the groups that we've been talking with, and believe me, we've been talking with lots of groups. in academia, like they said, and also in other multilateral organizations that are willing to think about this idea of measuring progress and well-being going beyond GDP. So there is broad endorsement of our work. We've been asked to produce a concise overarching conceptual frameworks, which we hope we have, and also to engage in rigorous methodological approaches. We also were asked to give more prominence to environmental matters, and I will say a few words now when we get to the discussion of the dashboard about this, and also to give consideration special consideration to operational aspects, including the fact that there are different capacities. It's very important that we are very mindful that what we're recommending should not be seen as a burden for countries that are already stretched and producing indicators and statistics that are required for the global goals. We want this to be a process in which there is also a commitment that investment in the statistical capacity in the countries will be absolutely part of. Let me tell you a little bit about the key elements of our work. I think we will always start by saying that our goal was not to replace GDP. We think that responsible, equitable, inclusive, sustainable economic growth will continue to be essential for well-being. We're not proposing to replace any of the initiatives that are ongoing. We see our effort as complementary to the system of national accounts 2025, the SDGs, the various, numerous actually, initiatives that have been taking place at the local level and regional level to implement dashboards to go beyond GDP. So we are actually building on what it exists and we want to see ourselves and we hope that we communicate this as complementary to a lot of the initiatives and to invite to the dialogue to the different constituencies that have been working on these. In the conceptual framework, we propose to use an overarching goal, the overarching goal instead of being just economic growth, is, like I said, responsible, equitable, inclusive, and sustainable well-being. So economic growth cannot be by itself considered success. We also are emphasizing foundational principles. It was already mentioned that sometimes GDP may grow when the countries are undergoing war, natural disasters. Also, we've seen many examples with glaring violations of human rights and countries show healthy economic growth. In our proposal, we want to emphasize the foundational principles of peace and security, human rights, and respect for the planet as essential for any progress and also as essential for any measurement of progress. We also want to emphasize the fact of the duality of people and planet. You cannot have a planet that will not survive and then talk about well-being of the people. So they're inherently interconnected. And we also want to involve things that probably are not so much in the radar screen. They are in the radar screen, but they're not really consistently measured because there hasn't been a convention. to measure it globally of the interconnectedness that the different countries experience in the world. And we also think of well-being as something that is not just at the individual level, but also it's something that has to involve how societies are performing. And that's why we have a number of indicators that look at inequalities and deprivations and exclusion in the dashboard that we were proposing. Now, let me briefly speak about the dashboard. I'm not going to present the data dashboard. This will be, I mean, it's a list of about 30 indicators and about 50% of them come from the SDGs. And this is in line with what we've been asked. Given that the SDG indicators, those that were chosen, do reflect what we think is important and are already part of the menu of indicators that are being collected, we think that this makes this proposal feasible even to start its implementation in the short term. The indicators are outcome indicators. We recognize that enablers such as technological change, well-functioning state, and many other factors are essential to achieve any of these, but enablers have to be measured and tracked in a different context. We're focusing on outcomes. And we selected indicators based on availability, the possibility for them to be universally applicable, and we also added indicators that were not in the radar screen yet, but we think are important to capture so that the notion of well-being that we're pursuing is adequately monitored. In addition, we have been exploring the idea of constructing headline indicators that combine the monetary, the income dimension with the non-income dimensions. There's different approaches to this, and what we're proposing is to have a discussion that follows what we propose to see whether eventually we can come up with an indicator that will be maybe not a single one, but maybe two or three that can be produced alongside with GEP, except that the others would capture things like the multidimensionality of current well-being and also the sustainability. In the environmental sustainability issue, we noticed that there are different approaches that have not been, that have not converged to a common view of how to measure it. And we are going to see in our recommendations to move forward in that direction because people are considering this to be one top priority of our global challenges at present. However, the measurement of it still has not been develop to the point that we can do the monitoring in the best way possible. And let me now give the floor back to Kaushik, who's going to, I think, share with us the main recommendations of the group. Thank you very much. GA · PGA [24:18]: I thank you, Ms. Lustig. And if I understood correctly, we go back to Mr. Basu. Co-Chair [24:27]: Yes. GA · PGA [24:27]: Yeah. Co-Chair [24:28]: Great. Thank you. Co-Chair [24:30]: This is like a symphony, you know, we have teamwork. GA · PGA [24:33]: Yeah. The theme of the idea session is also better together. So you show it perfectly. Thank you very much for that. Co-Chair [24:40]: Thank you very much. Let me just talk now of what Nora mentioned, but the statistical part of it. It's very easy to forget that beneath the world that we watch and the numbers that we read in newspapers of growth, of recession, of GDP, that there are massive amounts of statistical work that takes place. And the fundamental work done by Simon Kuznets, Richard Stone, Angus Maddison's historical data, and the large number of statisticians providing data plays a crucial role. So we conducted an assessment of our proposed dashboard to identify where data is available and where gaps exist. And we are aware that since we are venturing into new domains, there will be areas where data does not exist right now, but there must be the potential for developing that in the future. Based on the assessment, our report sets out a data and statistical agenda to allow for progressive implementation and gradual expansion of data availability. So a fallout of this work will be also that more data is becoming available and can be used. Throughout this process, dialogue with the national statistical offices was a crucial priority for us, as exemplified earlier this week. at the high-level forum of the UN Statistical Commission. We call for advancing progress in particular fields of measurement, subjective well-being, very difficult to measure, but very important, and we have some methods in place, the value of different types of capital, and planetary boundaries. However, this agenda requires political backing and resourcing to be successful. To briefly mention recommendations, our recommendations address multiple stakeholders that are all needed to make systemic changes effective, including governments, international organizations, because there is a lot of cross-country material here, the international statistical community, civil society. We are hoping that some of the things that we will draw attention to will be of interest to civil society, academia, where we belong, and there will be research, hopefully, from this, the private sector, and media to promote, operationalize, and institutionalize beyond GDP measures. Among the recommendations, all countries, we hope, will establish national initiatives to measure progress and embed this in their actual policymaking. An annual global report on progress of all countries against the global dashboard by the UN. What is measured triggers interest and triggers the game that economies play. So that is very important. We want Complementary measurement by civil society in areas where governments face real or perceived conflicts of interest and media reporting on beyond GDP measures alongside GDP updates. The hosting of dialogues, town halls, and fora to foster public undertaking and debate so that what is produced ultimately does permeate into our life's decision making and all hopefully as contribution towards a better world. Thank you. GA · PGA [28:28]: I thank you, Mr. Basu. I thank you, Ms. Lustig, for the presentation and again for your work. And we are all looking forward to the outcome of the report. I now open the floor for comments or questions. This meeting will not have a pre-established list of speakers. Delegations wishing to take the floor are invited to press the microphone button. Members requested to limit their intervention to five minutes when speaking on behalf of a group and three minutes when speaking in a national capacity. Time limit will be strictly enforced through an automatic microphone cutoff. A timer will be projected on screen. Those speaking on behalf of a group should approach a secretariat to be given priority in the speaking order. I thank you for your cooperation. I now give the floor to the distinguished first speaker, the Philippines, on behalf of the like-minded group of middle-income countries. Philippines · LMG-MICs [29:33]: Deputy Secretary-General, Under-Secretary-General, co-chairs of the High-Level Expert Group, Excellencies, colleagues, I have the honor to speak on behalf of the like-minded group for middle-income countries, the LMG-MICS. composed of Armenia, Belarus, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Lebanon, Mexico, Morocco, Namibia, Panama, Peru, the Philippines, and Uruguay. We thank the co-chairs of the High-Level Expert Group for briefing us this afternoon on the work of the group regarding this very important initiative, especially for the middle-income countries. We acknowledge with appreciation the progress made in advancing the development of a framework for new measures that complement or go beyond GDP through the interim progress report released in November 2025. The LMG mix have consistently championed the call to move beyond GDP, including through the resolution entitled Development Cooperation with Middle Income Countries during the 78th and 80th session of the General Assembly, the Rabat Declaration and the Makati Declaration. We also worked to ensure that the main objective of the initiative was reflected in both the Pact for the Future and the Sibiu Commitment, which as part of the paradigm shift towards a more inclusive development cooperation, inform access to development finance, including concessional finance and technical cooperation. The group wishes to emphasize, as noted in the latest report of the Sec-Gen on development and cooperation with MICs, the MICs face a set of common structural barriers that hamper further economic transformation. In his report in 2023 and 2025, the Secretary-General highlighted the imperative of the Beyond GDP initiative to address the middle income trap. It was cited that the broad range of mixed challenges and needs requires a new and inclusive development approach going beyond GDP to better inform domestic policy decisions and international cooperation, including access to development finance. The LMG mix wish to highlight the following. One, as the new set of indicators is developed, we look forward to seeing the new framework of metrics on development to address specific challenges of mix. Two, the group believes that the framework should consider interoperability with the policies of the international financial institutions. including the IMF, the World Bank, and multilateral development banks, particularly as part of the overall reform of the global financial architecture. Three, in 2024, public debt burdens increased in many mix, with the median debt to GDP ratio reaching 54.8%, up from 53.7% in 2023. Higher interest expenditures pose a growing risk to debt sustainability. In this regard, the group looks forward to a more concrete link between the new framework and the reform of the current international debt architecture, which deprives mix of concessional finance. Four, the group hopes that the indicators would avoid duplication and overlap with existing indices on human-centered development, such as the Multidimensional Poverty Index, the Gender Inequality Index, and the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index. Well, number five, and lastly, while we take note of the proposed adjusted GDP components, including the valuation of products and services, inequality and sustainability, we look forward to further elaboration on how each element will enhance policy relevance and support improved access to development finance, particularly for the middle-income countries. It is also important that we look at their distinct value so that the resulting metrics advance measurement beyond traditional GDP rather than reproducing it under a modified formulation. In conclusion, the LMG mix remain committed to supporting the work of the high level expert group. We look forward to its final recommendations and to engaging constructively in the forthcoming intergovernmental process. Thank you. GA · PGA [33:51]: I thank the distinguished representative of the Philippines on behalf of the like-minded group of middle-income countries. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Colombia, followed by Morocco and Angola. Colombia [34:07]: Senora Presidenta. Madam President, Madam DSG, distinguished experts, excellencies, colleagues, Colombia aligns itself with the statement made by the Philippines on behalf of a group of countries. on behalf of the middle income countries and we wish to make the following additional comments in our national capacity. We express our heartfelt thanks to the co-chairs of the High Level Group of Experts, talking about the progress and we recommend the progress reflected in the midterm progress report of November 2025. For my country, Madam President, the Beyond GDP initiative is essential to move forward in the way we assess development in the 21st century. GDP remains a fundamental tool to measure economic activity. However, on its own, it is not enough to reflect key dimensions of well-being, sustainability, studying income, natural capital, and structural vulnerabilities that developing countries face. In this context, following the mandate, the Beyond GDP initiative group is looking at a complementary global framework measuring the SDGs and is working closely with the Statistical Commission. As we've seen over the last 10 years with data and progress made in statistical gathering, these must be bolstered. beyond GDP must not set up parallel structures, but rather the statistical commission has already shown that we can have globally applicable frameworks and the work on environmental accountability shows that we can have measures that bring in sustainability and natural capital without replacing GDP and without placing additional burdens on national statistics bodies. For Colombia, this initiative is of the utmost importance, and the Declaration of Seville guides us to make more efforts with beyond GDP and provide fiscal measures on climate and other social measures for our countries. There's also risk perception. allocation of resources and access to financing for developing countries, benefiting from indicators to reflect structural vulnerabilities and sustainability efforts can make for a more equitable international financial system. By way of conclusion, Madam President, Colombia reaffirms its commitment to this initiative and to multilateralism that is focused on the well-being of people and the protection of life on Earth. Thank you very much. GA · PGA [36:58]: I thank the distinguished representative of Colombia. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Morocco. Morocco [37:05]: Madam President of the General Assembly, Madam Deputy Secretary-General, Excellencies, I align myself with the statement made by the distinguished Ambassador of the Philippines on behalf of the like-minded group for middle-income countries, and I would like to add the following points. in my national capacity. Morocco reaffirms its strong support for Action 53 of the Pact of the Future. During the negotiations, the Group of Middle-Income Countries made the establishment of this high-level expert group as a priority. The group has also supported the Secretary-General's call to establish this group, both in the Rabat, Morocco Declaration on Middle-Income Countries, adopted in 2024, as well as in the Makati, Philippines Declaration, adopted in 2025. My delegation was also pleased to contribute actively to advancing this mandate, convinced that rethinking how we measure progress is not a technical detail, but political and development necessity. For middle-income countries, GDP growth alone does not capture stricter vulnerabilities, social disparities, environment pressures, or development financing concerns. We appreciate what we heard today from the co-chair on the emerging framework, which seeks to reflect inclusive, well-being, equity, sustainability and resilience. However, I wish to underline three key expectation from our perspectives, first, The framework shall generally cover the three dimensions of sustainable development, economic, social, and environmental, in balanced and integrated manner. Second, we hope the panel's outcome will go beyond statistical recommendations and will provide broader policy recommendations that is able to inform decision making. and how budgets are allocated, how development needs are assessed, and how access to development finance is managed. Third, we must avoid duplication or siloed approaches while ensuring that all developing countries feel adequately reflected. And we appreciate that the co-chairs have already highlighted the principles of universality that is guiding their work. Madam President, We are very delighted to hear that you are willing to appoint two co-facilitators, and we thank you for your leadership on this process. Morocco stands ready to engage constructively in the upcoming intergovernmental process on measures of progress on sustainable development that complement or go beyond GDP. My delegation would be grateful if the co-chairs could elaborate on how does the panel envisage structuring its outputs so that the member states can meaningfully engage and utilize this recommendation. GA · PGA [40:07]: I thank the distinguished representative of Morocco and I ask the co-chairs for taking all the questions so you can come back to them at the end of our discussions. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Angola, followed by Austria and Pakistan. Angola [40:28]: Madam President, Madam Deputy Secretary-General, co-chairs of the High-Level Expert Group, Excellencies, Thank you for convening this important briefing. We commend the co-chairs of the High-Level Expert Group for their dedication and the in-depth work undertaken until today, as well reflected in their remarks. The discussion on the indicators that complement GDP represent a strategic reflection on how we define progress, shape public policies at national and international levels, and consequently, how development is understood, promoted, and reflected in our societies. While GDP remains an important economic measure, it does not fully capture structural vulnerabilities, persistent inequalities, exposure to external shocks, the growing impacts of climate change, or the long-term sustainability of growth. For many developing countries, particularly across Africa, these realities shape our development pathways and must be reflected in how progress is measured. In this regard, Angola would like to highlight three guiding considerations. First, national ownership must remain central. Any framework of indicators should empower countries, supporting their development priorities and strengthen domestic planning processes, rather than imposing additional layers of complexity. Second, new indicators should foster coherence rather than fragmentation. They should reinforce convergence among existing development agenda, consolidating the vital nexus between sustainable development, financing, and productive capacities. Third, this process should contribute to a fair international system, one that recognizes multidimensional vulnerabilities and better-informed decisions on financing, debt sustainability, and development support. To conclude, Madam President, our delegation will continue to engage constructively and follow this process with interest, with a clear objective to help advance inclusive, resilient and truly sustainable development. I thank you. GA · PGA [42:47]: I thank the distinguished representative of Angola. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Austria. Austria [42:55]: Madam President, Deputy Secretary General, Under Secretary General, distinguished co-chairs, dear colleagues. Let me start by thanking you all for this comprehensive briefing. Austria fully recognizes the multidimensional nature of development, which cannot be adequately reflected by GDP alone. GDP fails to acknowledge increasing challenges like ecological vulnerabilities, inequality gaps, access to quality education, digital inclusion, and health disparities. While economic growth is a prerequisite for development, traditional metrics can be enriched to better reflect the complexity of global economic interactions and their impact on people's lives. They should capture not just how much is produced, but how development is experienced, distributed, and sustained, and they should inform considerations for access to finance and technical cooperation. Against this background, we fully support the work of the High-Level Expert Group and thank you for your hard work and dedicated efforts. Austria particularly appreciates the outreach and inclusivity that the group has pursued with the extensive consultations with Member States and key stakeholders. This inclusivity is key as it incorporates the different experiences and viewpoints of the various groups. In the context of today's topic, I would also like to point to Austria's support for the Beyond GDP Global Alliance. This initiative, led by Spain, the OECD, and UNCTAD, amongst others, was established in the context of the Fourth Financing for Development Conference as a contribution to the Sevilla Platform of Action. And the initiative is pursuing exactly the integration of more comprehensive development considerations into policy and financing practices. We also fully acknowledge the need to reform the graduation criteria from ODA eligibility for SIDS and support a speedier reform in this regard within the OECD. Colleagues, what we measure shapes what we prioritize. Therefore, we hope that the work of the High-Level Group will contribute to how we think about and drive sustainable development. We are very much looking forward to the presentation of the final report, and I thank you. GA · PGA [45:13]: I thank the distinguished representative from Austria. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative from Pakistan, followed by Saudi Arabia and South Africa. Pakistan [45:22]: Thank you very much, Madam President. We thank you very much for convening this meeting. Pakistan appreciates the initiative of the Secretary-General and the High-Level Expert Group to brief the Member States on progress made so far. We thank the Co-Chairs for the valuable insights shared today. Many economists have recognized that GDP was never intended to be a comprehensive measure of social welfare. Today's complex global realities require a broader and more holistic understanding of development. Pakistan supports efforts to complement GDP with indicators that better capture human well-being, equity, and sustainability. We note with interest the framework proposed by the expert group, which seeks to integrate these three pillars in measuring progress and guiding policymaking. Development cannot be understood solely through aggregate economic output. It must also reflect whether growth translates into poverty eradication, social inclusion, access to quality education and health services, as well as environmental resilience and opportunities for all segments of the society. Madam President, any global framework on beyond GDP should remain practical, country-owned and sensitive to national contexts. indicators must be methodologically sound and aligned with existing frameworks, particularly the Sustainable Development Goals. Capacity building and enhanced statistical support will also be essential. Many developing countries face significant data gaps and institutional constraints in measuring complex dimensions of well-being. Strengthening national statistical systems and ensuring adequate technical and financial support must therefore remain central to this initiative. Finally, we believe that the Beyond GDP agenda should reinforce and not replace the broader development commitments already agreed by Member States. Pakistan looks forward to engaging constructively in the consultations ahead and to contributing to the intergovernmental process following the presentation of the expert group's final recommendations. I thank you very much. GA · PGA [47:29]: I thank the distinguished representative of Pakistan. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia [47:43]: Thank you, Madam Chair. Excellencies, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia thanks the High-Level Group of Experts tasked with the Beyond GDP initiative for their remarkable efforts to develop a broader understanding of social and economic progress. The Kingdom reaffirms that GDP remains a key indicator to gauge progress. Having said that, supplementing GDP with additional indicators that reflect well-being, social well-being, and other factors can help to sketch out a more true picture of the situation we attach Paramount importance to National statistics we are working through the relevant commission to task or to draw up policies in accordance with the 2030 vision of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia we are working to develop international indicators in order to measure the quality of life so as to contribute to international efforts seeking to produce more exhaustive tools in this regard, more comprehensive tools. We would like to underscore the need for this process to be flexible and to take on board statistical imperatives and to address disparities among various areas in order to ensure that it is applicable to various countries. In closing, the development of criteria that can supplement GDP could assist with the implementation of the 2030 Agenda so as to ensure development for absolutely everyone. Thank you. GA · PGA [49:47]: Thanks to the distinguished representative of Saudi Arabia, I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of South Africa, followed by China and Peru. South Africa [49:56]: South Africa takes this opportunity to express its appreciation to the PGA, the DSG, and the high level expert group on Beyond GDP for convening us today. Today's briefing, coupled with last year's briefing on the interim report during the World Social Summit, is proof of the transparency of the work of the High-Level Expert Group. In attempting to measure development beyond GDP, the work of the High-Level Expert Group fosters a context-specific, multidimensional approach to measuring economic growth and development, especially in the Global South. It is about placing the human being and planet at the center. Evidence abounds about the significance of non-economic factors in providing a more nuanced and balanced measure of economic growth, well-being, and sustainability. Maintaining a balance between economic, social, and environmental dimensions of development provides us with a holistic view and an enhanced measure of development, rather than strictly adhering to the economic indicators that characterize GDP. Much like the high level expert groups interim report and based on the principle of Ubuntu, South Africa's G20 presidency recognized the inextricable link between individual care and communal wellbeing, something that narrow consideration of prosperity and wellbeing, such as a focus on GDP ignores. It is against this background that, during its G20 presidency, South Africa advanced various pro-development initiatives expressed within the broader ambit of Global South priorities, such as inclusive growth, debt relief, reduction of poverty and inequality, climate change, illicit financial flows, reform of global governance institutions, and the beneficiation of critical minerals, amongst others. In conclusion, South Africa welcomes this briefing and expresses its support for the work of the High-Level Expert Group, which seeks to cement the development pillar firmly in the world's economic agenda. South Africa looks forward to receiving the comprehensive list of recommended country-owned and universally applicable indicators of sustainable development that Member States will consider in accelerating the implementation of SDGs, as well as the creation of a dashboard to monitor the implementation. To the High-Level Expert Group, rest assured of South Africa's support as you finalize the report. Thank you. GA · PGA [52:28]: I thank the Distinguished Representative of South Africa. I now give the floor to the Distinguished Representative of China. China [52:38]: President Berbak, the GA, DSG Mohammed, USG Li Junhua, China thanks The co-chairs of the High-Level Expert Group on Beyond GDP for the briefing and appreciates the UN's efforts in advancing the work on Beyond GDP. Development is without exception the top priority for all countries in the world. It is also a process of improvement where we need to keep up with the times and awareness and action. In that sense, launching the studies on Beyond GDP is of important forward-looking and current relevance and has China's active support. At the same time, regarding the direction of the studies and how they could be be translated in the future into a barometer for global development cooperation, China has the following views and recommendations. First, they need to reflect the transformation and the patterns and drivers of development brought by the new round of technological and industrial revolutions. Second, they need to reflect the people's higher expectations and aspirations in material, cultural, environmental, and social aspects after a general improvement in the level of development. Third, they need to accommodate the different countries' conditions and stages of development and strike a proper balance among being forward-looking, feasible, and considering regional differences. Fourth, they need to be aligned with the 2030 Agenda. In terms of the specific indicators, in material well-being, the measuring of inclusive growth and shared development gains should be strengthened, while indicators such as poverty reduction effectiveness and common prosperity should be included. In environmental quality, indicators should be added to reflect the improvement of the quality of the eco-environment. In governance, indicators should be added to reflect social stability, public sense of security, and public trust. Beyond GDP is highly in line with China's national development vision. As early as 10 years ago, President Xi Jinping put forward the new development concept of innovative, coordinated, green, open, and shared development. Guided by this concept, China has constantly made new strides and secure new achievement in its high-quality development, among which green transition has been one of the most prominent and well-known achievements. China is currently holding the two sessions, where the draft outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan will be reviewed, and the development goals for the first year of the Five-Year period will be formulated, we will continue to focus on high-quality development and promote all-round development of the person and the common prosperity of all people. We are also actively studying beyond GDP. We have for many years in a row carried out comprehensive performance assessment for high-quality development and included in the assessment and monitoring system factors such as economic structure, innovation, investment, and output, balance and coordination of development, public services, et cetera. China stands ready to engage in exchanges and experiences with the UN on Beyond GDP and jointly build a Beyond GDP system that is more science-based, inclusive, and sustainable. I thank you. GA · Vice-President [55:31]: I thank the distinguished representative of China. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Peru, followed by Djibouti and Switzerland. Peru [55:44]: Madam President of the General Assembly, thank you for giving me the floor. Excellencies, Peru aligns itself with the statement made by the delegation of the Philippines on behalf of the like-minded group of middle-income countries, and we're grateful for the group that the High-Level Expert Group has been doing to extend recommendations on indicators geared towards beyond GDP. While GDP is a useful indicator, as delegations have already mentioned, it's not sufficient to reflect the complexity of development. In particular, it doesn't comprehensively capture vulnerabilities or structural gaps that developing countries face, nor the real costs of the triple planetary crisis, which is climate change, pollution, and the loss of biodiversity that have a direct impact on the development trajectories of middle-income countries. In this regard, for my country, beyond GDP is a political and strategic need. As a mega diverse country that's highly vulnerable to climate change, Peru faces vulnerabilities linked to its geography, its biodiversity, its limits in terms of connectivity and external shocks. We also face structural challenges in critical areas such as health, education, safety and security of our citizens, housing and access to basic services, which is why it's essential for these realities that are not sufficiently indicated by the GDP indicator to be adequately incorporated in the new metrics that come out of the current process. What's more, we believe that the Beyond GDP process could involve the measuring of multidimensional poverty so that this process can help us to better and more precisely guide public policy and to strengthen decision-making. Madam President, the process to define the indicators that go beyond GDP is an historic opportunity to redefine how we measure development and as a result help us to move towards a more fair allocation of resources based on real vulnerabilities and real needs, strengthening the resilience of developing countries. In this regard, Peru reaffirms the fact that we stand ready to contribute constructively to the ongoing consultation process and the intergovernmental negotiations, convinced of the fact that measuring better is also a way of governing better. Thank you. GA · Vice-President [58:17]: I thank the distinguished representative of Peru. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Djibouti, followed by Switzerland and Spain. Djibouti [58:30]: Excellency, Madam President of the General Assembly, Excellency, Madam Deputy Secretary-General, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen. First of all, I would like to thank you for this briefing and presenting a comprehensive, timely, and forward-looking recommendations of the High-Level Expert Group on Advancing Measures of Progress Beyond GDP. This analysis provides an important foundation for our deliberations and charts a clear path toward a more inclusive and multidimensional understanding of development. The recognition within the UN that GDP alone does not adequately capture human progress reflects an essential and necessary evolution in our collective thinking. Economic output, while important, does not fully measure well-being, inequality, resilience, environmental sustainability or social cohesion. As we strive to achieve the sustainable development goals, development must be understood as multidimensional and people-centered. For developing countries, and especially LDCs, this shift is particularly significant. Our development realities are shaped not only by income levels, but also by structural vulnerabilities, climate exposure, demographic dynamics and limited fiscal space. In this context, I wish to underscore the role of the high level expert group on beyond GDP established by the SG to advance this agenda. Those recommendations stress that this is not just a technical exercise, but requires fundamental shifts in policy, statistical capacities and decision making to ensure that what truly matters to societies is measured and acted upon. However, improved measurements must be accompanied by improved means of implementation. Moving beyond GDP also requires investment in national statistical capacity. Many developing countries require increased financial and technical assistance to strengthen data collections, analysis, and dissemination. High quality disaggregated data is critical for evidence-based policy making and for making multidimensional progress. It is about ensuring that vulnerability, resilience, and human development are fully reflected in international decision making and financing framework. We stand ready to work with all partners and stakeholders to advance a development framework that links better measurement with fair financing and stronger resilience for all. I thank you. GA · Vice-President [1:01:19]: I thank the distinguished representative of Djibouti. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Switzerland, followed by Spain and Kenya. Switzerland [1:01:34]: Chair, Madam President, Deputy Secretary-General, Co-Chairs of the High-Level Expert Group, Excellencies. Switzerland thanks the High-Level Expert Group on Beyond GDP for its work and its inclusive consultations. We welcome today's update. GDP remains a key measure of economic activity, yet it is not sufficient to guide policy in a complex world. We appreciate the intention to complement rather than replace GDP, the coherent conceptual framework across key domains, and the inclusive process, including exchanges with the UN Statistical Commission. We wish to make four considerations. First, any Beyond GDP framework should build explicitly on the UN Statistical Commission's work and the agreed SDG indicator framework. The decade of investment in data, methods, and flows must be preserved. Second, the 17 SDGs are the result of a carefully negotiated political compromise, and continuity matters. Beyond GDP elements should be integrated into the SDGs and their future evolution, not set up as a parallel structure. Dashboards are only useful if they're linked to the 17 SDGs are explicit and intuitive. Third, clarity is needed on expectations for member states and Budgetary constraints mean countries and national statistical offices cannot run a separate reporting system. The UN system also operates under tight resources. Fourth, there is a long-standing structural challenge. Despite GDP's limits, many wellbeing, sustainability, social cohesion and environmental indicators have not gained political or media traction. not due to their quality, but because narratives and incentives focus on GDP. Success of a new framework will depend not only on measurement quality, but also on strategies for communication, uptake and institutionalization in policy making, budgeting and accountability. In conclusion, Switzerland supports a limited, universally applicable dashboard that complements GDP, aligns with the SDG framework, and is operationally feasible for member states and the UN. We stand ready to engage as the expert group finalizes its recommendations. Thank you. GA · Vice-President [1:04:11]: I thank the distinguished representative of Switzerland. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Spain, followed by Kenya and Japan. Spain [1:04:24]: Mr Vice-President, Ms DSG, Excellencies, Spain wishes to thank you for convening this important briefing. We wish to express our sincere thanks to the Group of Experts for presenting their work and for their preliminary recommendations. We follow the work of the Group very closely and we really positively appreciate the interim progress report. which reflects an inclusive process based on broad consultations and solid technical rigor. We welcome the fact that the group of experts has provided guidance on the deployment of the panel of indicators, the dashboard, to maximize its adoption, as well as the priorities in terms of compilation of data and strengthening of statistical capacities to make the panel and its indicators operational. This practical guidance is fundamental. Going beyond GDP is not only a conceptual change, it requires credible tools, institutional preparedness, and a political commitment. We are convinced that complementing GDP with multi-dimensional indicators, national ones and that are universally applicable, is essential to align public policies and strategies for finance with equity, resilience and sustainability. Concrete proof of this commitment was that Spain took the initiative alongside UNCTAD, the OECD and the SEGIP to lead the creation of the global Beyond GDP Alliance, launched in the framework of the FF, Financing for Development Conference as part of the Platform for Action of Seville. This alliance is designed as a coalition of countries and partners committed to the integration of multidimensional metrics for development on national policies and international cooperation. The goal is to closely link with the work of the group of experts to foster convergence and facilitate learning between peers and to create practical ways to ensure that countries and institutions can make headway in the adoption of more complete metrics for sustainable development in their frameworks for policy and financing. Alongside our co-leaders, we have already made progress in the drafting of a draft work plan geared towards defining the objectives, activities, and mechanisms of governance for the alliance. fully that's fully complementary with the intergovernmental process that will continue to present the final report to the General Assembly. We'd like to urge other members to consider joining this alliance. It provides a platform to translate the conceptual and technical work developed at the UN level into practical support for implementation, political impulse and shared learning between regions. President, the work of the Group of Experts is a decisive step forward to redefine the way that we understand progress. Spain is prepared to participate constructively in the intergovernmental process and to work with all partners to ensure that Beyond GDP framework is turned into an operational reality. Thank you very much. GA · Vice-President [1:07:16]: I thank the distinguished representative of Spain. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Kenya, followed by Japan and Mexico. Kenya [1:07:26]: Thank you, Mr. President. Kenya welcomes the work of the high-level expert group in exploring complementary indicators that better reflect human well-being, environmental integrity, social inclusion, and long-term resilience. Such efforts are particularly important for developing countries whose development pathways are often shaped by structural vulnerabilities climate impacts and inequalities that GDP alone cannot adequately reflect. Excellencies, in Kenya, the Potomac Economic Transformation Agenda of 2022-2027 recognizes the importance of beyond GDP framework, focusing on inclusive growth, climate resilience, and sustainable resource management. These efforts reflect a broader understanding that prosperity must be both people-centered and planet-sensitive. As this work progresses, Kenya wishes to highlight the following considerations. One, the development of new metrics should remain inclusive, transparent, and member state-driven, ensuring that perspectives and priorities for developing countries are fully reflected. Two, new indicators should complement rather than replace existing frameworks, particularly the SDG indicator framework, which already provides a comprehensive basis for measuring sustainable development. Three, need to strengthen national statistical capacities, but especially in developing countries, so that they can correct, analyze, and utilize the data necessary to operationalize broader measures of progress. And four, adoption of broader development metrics should help inform international financing, development cooperation, and policy decisions, including how global institutions should assess vulnerability, resilience, and development needs. Excellencies, moving beyond GDP is not about dismissing economic growth. Rather, it is about ensuring that growth translates into real improvements in people's lives while safeguarding the environment for future generations. Kenya remains committed to engaging constructively in this process. and looks forward to the continued work of the high-level expert group as we collectively strive to build development frameworks that better reflect the realities and aspirations of our people. I thank you. GA · Vice-President [1:10:21]: I thank the distinguished representative of Kenya. And I'll give the floor to the distinguished representative of Japan, followed by Mexico and Ethiopia. Japan [1:10:32]: Madam President, Madam, uh, Deputy Secretary General, co-chairs of the High-Level Expert Group, thank you for convening this important meeting and giving a useful briefing. Japan would like to express its sincere appreciation to the High-Level Expert Group for its dedicated work, including issuing the interim report last year. We recognize the importance of measuring people's well-being in ways that go beyond what GDP alone can capture. In this regard, Japan has been actively engaged in related discussions, including through our participation in the Friends of the Chair group on social and demographic statistics under the Statistical Commission. As discussions progress toward concrete indicators, we emphasize the importance of an open, transparent, and inclusive process among member states. This will be vital to fostering shared understanding and ownership. So we once again appreciate this opportunity today. We find the seven example indicators presented in the interim report very helpful for facilitating substantive discussions. When it comes to the selection of concrete indicators, we should be mindful of the differences in data availability and the statistical capacities across countries, as these can influence results and their comparability. We look forward to reviewing the forthcoming final report and to engaging actively in the intergovernmental process. We remain committed to contributing constructively toward making our collective efforts as effective and applicable as possible. I thank you. GA · Vice-President [1:12:10]: I thank the distinguished representative of Japan, and I'll give the floor to the distinguished representative of Mexico, followed by Ethiopia and Lao PDR. Mexico [1:12:26]: Thank you very much, Your Excellency. Mexico is grateful for the organization of this meeting, and we recognize the leadership of the Secretary-General and the High-Level Expert Group. We appreciate the open, technical, and inclusive nature of the consultations that will certainly strengthen the legitimacy of the outcomes. We firmly support efforts to go beyond GDP as a measure of development. In this regard, we underscore that the results of this initiative must be built on the basis of existing international agreements. particularly the Compromiso de Sevilla, that underscores the need to consider development from a multidimensional approach and to strengthen cooperation frameworks so that they better reflect the circumstances of different countries. This process must prioritize quality over the quantity of indicators. Before proposing new metrics, it's necessary to thoroughly review information and the tools we already have available, as well as to define clearly to subsequently design the right instruments. What's more, it's fundamental to recognize the diversity of realities, including those of small island developing states and middle-income countries that face different challenges. Mexico has concrete experience that supports this approach for more than two decades. We have had a multidimensional official measure of poverty that doesn't only consider income, but also education, health, social security, housing, basic services, and foods. This model has enabled us to identify structural inequalities more precisely and to guide public policy for those that are deprived on multiple fronts. We recognize the importance of strengthening the coherence and coordination between existing frameworks, many indicators are already available. The challenge is better integrating them and ensuring that they effectively inform public policy and financing decisions. In this context, we would be interested to know if the expert group has identified political challenges in moving forward to implement these metrics. Frequently, the stumbling block is not a lack of data, but rather institutional coordination, sustained investment, and political priorities. In this process, we should contribute to contributing to political will, which is essential for these indicators, and to ensure that these can have an impact on financing decisions within cooperation frameworks. We reiterate the fact that we stand ready to contribute to the next steps of this process. Thank you very much. GA · Vice-President [1:15:05]: I thank you, the distinguished representative of Mexico. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Ethiopia, followed by Lao PDR and Poland. Ethiopia [1:15:18]: Thank you, Mr. President, and Madam Deputy Secretary-General, the USCG, Lee Jun-hwa, the distinguished delegates at the outset. I thank the expert group for their continued efforts in advancing a framework and matrix to enable evidence-based policy making to foster inclusive and sustainable development. Let me also thank the co-chairs for their comprehensive briefing and set of recommendations. While the GDP metric continues to be a useful measure of economic activities, its limitations have been well established and longstanding. The need for a broader range of economic, environmental indicators for people, the planet, and the future generations is no longer a mere economic principle. However, despite decades of previous initiatives and efforts, attempts to integrate these metrics into policy and broader development agenda remains limited. In this context, we appreciate the importance of this ambitious initiative that will bring considerable shift in how we measure development, design policy, approach decision making, and assess impact. For Ethiopia, ensuring economic, environmental, social, and institutional sustainability for future generations is an integral part of our development objectives and processes. Our mainstream policy application has integrated human-centric quality of life indicators and sustainability with quality economic growth. Beyond simple financial and economic indicators, the focus on holistic well-being and low-carbon, resource-efficient, and socially inclusive approach define our development trajectory. Today's briefing and expert recommendations provide important elements in further augmenting the integration of country-owned, universally applicable, and beyond GDP indicators for sustainable development. I would like to note that the endeavor should aspire to address existing implementation gaps in developing countries Its systemic integration mainly depends on robust and innovative data sources leveraged in emerging technologies, including AI. As I conclude, let me reiterate my country's appreciation to the Beyond GDP initiative and the UN's role in further consolidating this framework to accelerate progress on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. I thank you, Mr. Chairman. GA · Vice-President [1:18:03]: I thank the distinguished representative of Ethiopia. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Lao PDR, followed by Poland and Australia. Lao People's Democratic Republic [1:18:15]: Mr. Vice President, Excellencies, on behalf of the Lao PDR, we extend our appreciation to the High-Level Expert Group on Bijuan GDP for the comprehensive briefing and for sharing emerging recommendations. While GDP remains a central measure of economic activity, it does not fully capture well-being, environmental sustainability, or institutional capacity. Complementary indicators provide crucial insight to guide evidence-based policy, support inclusive and sustainable development, and strengthen the national planning process. At the national level, Lao PDR comply indicators on poverty, health, education, employment, gender inequality, SDGs, and selective environmental measures such as forest coverage and natural resource management. Efforts are also ongoing to enhance human capital, social protection, and data disaggregations. ensuring that statistical output are relevant and reflect the diversity of populations. We recognize that advancing measurement framework for multidimensional well-being, inequality, climate change, governance, and resilience require attention to statistical capacity. methodological coherence, and the data quality. We support the key recommendations. However, global recommendations should remain flexible, country-led, and adaptable to the national context, while building on existing international framework, including SDGs and the system of the national accounts. The Lao PDR appreciate and support the work of the High-Level Expert Group as an important contribution to ongoing dialogue with UN GDP. Continued technical and cooperation, methodological guidance, and capacity support will be essential to ensure that statistics effectively inform policy, planning, and inclusive development today and in the future. Thank you. GA · Vice-President [1:20:41]: I thank the distinguished representative of Lao PDR. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Poland, followed by Australia and Panama. Poland [1:20:53]: Mr. President, we would like to thank the President of the General Assembly for convening today's briefing and to the co-chairs for their presentations. Poland commends the work of the High-Level Expert Group on Beyond GDP. The interim report contains valuable summary of emerging approaches and considerations. We hope that the report, together with group's final recommendations, will serve as a good starting point for the intergovernmental process mandated in the pact for the future, and we are looking forward to it. Korea's economic transformation over the past three decades has been profound and serves as an example of a success story. Sustained economic growth, strengthened macroeconomic stability, and improved standards of living for millions of citizens. However, we recognize that GDP alone cannot fully capture the well-being of society. Therefore, we support the Beyond GDP approach, which complements GDP with broader and multidimensional indicators that better serve public policy. We are also pleased to hear today that the dashboard draws from existing initiatives and remains complementary in nature to those. We would initially assess, hearing today's presentation, that approximately 50% of indicators drawn from the SDG indicator framework is a good beginning of the conversation about the complementarity between Beyond GDP and other frameworks. And while speaking of complementarity, let me ask the distinguished co-chairs the following question about a two-way connection. How can existing multi-dimensional tools, such as Human Development Index, be further strengthened or complemented to reflect emerging challenges, but also to contribute to the work on beyond GDP approach? I thank you. GA · Vice-President [1:22:45]: I thank the distinguished representative of Poland. And I'll give the floor to the distinguished Australia, followed by Panama and Zimbabwe. Australia [1:22:57]: Thank you very much, President, and thank you, Deputy Secretary General and the co-chairs. Australia is strongly supportive of a multidimensional approach to measuring sustainable development. The Beyond GDP framework is valuable to measure sustainable development progress and inform national policies, strategies, and public resource allocation decisions. Australia wants multi-dimensional sustainable development metrics to complement income-only measures in international financing frameworks. So we're keen to hear more about how the Beyond GDP framework would play a role in that, particularly in concessional finance eligibility and allocation decisions. Any international eligibility or allocation criteria should be context specific, with indicators that are targeted to the development issue at hand to ensure resources are going to where they are needed most. In a world of increasing shocks and global challenges, recognition of structural vulnerabilities and resilience, particularly for small states, and in particular in the Pacific, is essential for sustainable development and targeting scarce international concessional resources to where they are needed most, which is why we strongly support the multidimensional vulnerability index. I would like to inquire how does Beyond GDP complement and reinforce the continued refinement of the MVI? And finally, capacity constraints. could only exclude small states while adding onerous requirements on already strained systems. I'm keen to understand how the Beyond GDP dashboard will address data gaps and lags. I thank you. GA · Vice-President [1:24:43]: I thank the distinguished representative of Australia. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Panama, followed by Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. Panama [1:24:54]: Thank you, President. We're grateful to have this space for exchange, and we recognize the progress made by the high-level expert group on beyond GDP thus far, as well as the efforts to ensure transparency in support for this important initiative. Panama aligns itself with the statement made by the Philippines on behalf of the like-minded group of middle-income countries. In our national capacity, we wish to underscore that for Panama, moving towards metrics that complement or replace GDP is not just a technical exercise, it's an important step to broaden the database that is used for the adoption of public policies and to define development priorities, both on a national and an international level. We recognize that the group is fine-tuning the Beyond GDP framework. Nevertheless, as far as possible, we'd be grateful if we could know whether there's already any preliminary guidance or lines of reflection on some issues that we would prefer to address by way of a few questions. For example, the report underscores the need to reduce excessive dependence on GDP where it is not the most effective measure. It would be interesting to know how this is defined in operational terms. The case of GDP, how do we decide what type of economic activity really contributes to well-being and what just compensates for structural problems such as insecurity and conflict. On SGDP that includes environmental measures and intergenerational effects, it's planned for SGDP to explicitly recognize the contribution of countries that are carbon negative like us or that play a meaningful role in the presentation of ecosystem services. So that's our question. From Panama's national experience where we have implemented the index for multidimensional policy and where it's been used to guide public policy. We'd be interested to understand how the Beyond GDP framework can be articulated with already existing national instruments. We would also like to know whether the framework plans for measuring multidimensional poverty is planned to move towards some kind of methodological measurement and we are also interested in the upcoming intergovernmental process agreed on by Member States and reiterate our interest in this initiative and we will be closely following its evolution within the framework of the General Assembly. Thank you very much. GA · Vice-President [1:27:37]: I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Zimbabwe, followed by Bangladesh. Zimbabwe [1:27:52]: Thank you, Mr. President. We thank you and the Deputy Secretary-General for convening this timely briefing and for your leadership in advancing the commitments of the Pact for the Future. We also thank the co-chairs of the High-Level Expert Group for their comprehensive briefing and for the transparent, dedicated manner in which the group has conducted its work over the past months. The interim progress report makes an important and timely contribution. It acknowledges a reality that many countries, including my own country, Zimbabwe, have observed. While GDP remains a useful measure of economic activity, it does not fully capture the well-being of our people or the sustainability of our development pathways. Recent global crises have further exposed the limits of relying on GDP alone to define progress. It is encouraging that the report proposes an integrated framework built around three interlinked pillars, namely well-being, equity and inclusion, and sustainability. These pillars resonate strongly with our own national development priorities. Mr. President, as we move forward, my delegation wishes to emphasize the following, which could contribute towards the success of this process. First, the framework must remain grounded in country ownership. Development realities differ widely across countries. A single standardized metric can obscure structural constraints, vulnerabilities, and differentiated development pathways. Complementarity measures must therefore preserve policy space. For developing countries, this includes recognizing exposure to shocks, climate risks, and debt burdens. Any new framework should support rather than constrain our access to development finance and our ability to pursue nationally determined priorities. Second, coherence must guide our efforts. The Beyond GDP agenda should reinforce, not duplicate, existing global commitments. It must strengthen the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and complement other internationally agreed frameworks. Our collective objective should be to enrich the tools for measuring progress while keeping our focus on delivering the sustainable development goals. Third, the dashboard approach must remain practical and policy relevant. Indicators should inform decision making and support effective public policy. Meaningful application, however, will require stronger national statistical systems. Many developing countries continue to face gaps in data collection and analysis. Sustained investment in statistical capacity will therefore be essential if this framework is to serve all member states equitably. Mr. President, how we measure progress shapes how we design policy and allocate resources. We must therefore ensure that new metrics advance equity, sustainable development, and the legitimate development aspirations of our countries in the global south. Thank you. GA · Vice-President [1:30:53]: I thank the distinguished representative of Zimbabwe. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Bangladesh. Bangladesh [1:31:07]: Thank you, Mr. President. We appreciate the convening of this meeting on the work of the High-Level Expert Group on Beyond GDP. We thank Madam DSG for her leadership and the co-chairs for their briefings this afternoon. Bangladesh fully supports the efforts to measure progress in ways that complements GDP for evidence-based policy making as a deliverable of the Pact for the Future. GDP is essential for macroeconomic planning, budgeting, and assessing debt sustainability, yet it does not capture the full picture of people's well-being, inequality, resilience to shocks, and development impacts of climate emergencies. That is why additional measures are critical. At the same time, we stress that the Beyond GDP process must not seek to replace GDP altogether. Rather, it should add clarity and depth to how we understand sustainable development without creating confusion in economic policy making. We welcome the idea of a dashboard with a practical set of indicators building on what already exists, especially the SDG framework, so that countries are not asked to report the same information through a new and overlapping set of indicators. Mr. President, any Beyond GDP approach should remain country-owned. It should not create a new ranking system that levels countries in ways that do not reflect their realities, development context, and capacities. We also wish to underline that Beyond GDP must not become a costly endeavor. It should not push developing countries to invest large amounts in data systems or statistical methods without targeted international cooperation, capacity building, and technology transfer. Otherwise, capacity gaps could widen further and the risk of misrepresentation would rather increase. Mr. President, we stress that the framework must be transparent, flexible, and regularly reviewed with strong and inclusive consultation. To that end, my delegation remains committed to engaging actively and constructively in the intergovernmental process that follows the work of the expert group. I thank you. GA · Vice-President [1:33:12]: I thank the representative, distinguished representative of Bangladesh. We have heard the last speaker for this meeting. I now invite Ms. Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary General, to provide observations on the interventions made by delegations. UN Secretariat · DSG [1:33:35]: Thank you, Mr. President. Perhaps I could crave your indulgence that the co-facilitators would respond to some of those technical questions, and then I might come in after. GA · Vice-President [1:33:46]: Thank you. In that case, I would like to invite Mr. Kaushik Basu to provide the observations and intervention and also answer the questions made by delegations. Thank you. Co-Chair [1:33:59]: Thank you very much. This was actually a very, very heartening meeting and interaction, and the positive comments made one feel that there is a need, palpable around the world, people are feeling for newer measures. The questions, I don't want to get into the details because broadly what the questions are addressing are matters that we are taking into account. For instance, people do point out and ask, is this going to be country ownership or international? The ownership will be at the level of the nation, but there is an international aspect as well, which is extremely important, and I think international organizations will have to be involved. What we did not go into here, but Nora will recall, we've had lots of discussions, that many of the measures that one country takes has externalities and spillovers for other countries. There, automatically, there is an international dimension to it, which will have to come in. And we are hoping that we touch on this and that will be picked up. And therefore, This is not something just for professional economists. This is for nations, national policymakers and leaders, for international policymakers and statisticians around the world. There was one very pointed question apart from this, which came from Mexico, and I'll just give a short answer to that and I'll stop. Where Mexico asked, have we identified political challenges? To that, the response is right now, no, because this broad aspiration of what we are trying as part of the HLEG is in keeping with what nations are trying. But I do anticipate that there will be political challenges once the measures are out there. And some countries on some dimensions will some years do well, some years do poorly. And it is a very natural tendency that when you do poorly on some measure, you resist the measure itself. So the political challenges will come, which is just as well. It suggests that we are doing something important, which even if politically for a moment we resist, we should have a broader, larger sense to realize that we are aspiring towards something which is useful for the world, useful for the planet. Thank you. GA · Vice-President [1:36:32]: I thank you, Excellency. I now invite Ms. Nora Lustig to provide observations and also may answer some of the questions on intervention made by delegations. Co-Chair [1:36:45]: Thank you very much. I want to echo Kaushik's comment about how heartening this meeting has been, the fact that it's so well attended, so many people wanted to express their opinion. It's impossible, as you can imagine, to address all the questions within the time frame that we have, but we take them very seriously. And I just want to highlight a couple of things. One is that the format of the release of the report will be announced shortly. through the Secretariat and the UN channels, and there will be time allocated for a process in which Member States can look at the report and prepare their remarks. But we don't have a fixed timeline yet, but it will be shortly communicated. The other thing I wanted to say about country ownership, that's absolutely essential, we are consistently emphasizing the fact that the indicators have to be country owned. And also what we're proposing should not be seen, like I said, as the end of a process and also as the end of the indicators that countries will be monitoring. We want to provide something that could be a core set of indicators and then, depending on the country, there may be additional ones different ones that want to be used to continue monitoring progress in the specific circumstances of that country. I also want to add something about a role of the multi, the international bodies here. I think it would be great as it's been done with GDP and many indicators that are in the SDGs to have norms, conventions, protocols, and how things should be measured so we can compare. And that's a very important role that the UN has been playing through its statistical commission that would continue to have a very active role to ensure that what we're proposing that is new also falls into that kind of process so that there are guidelines And there are ways in which in the end we can compare the results. Regarding the specific existing multidimensional indices, we are looking at them. We've been in particular having lots of conversations with the Human Development Report Office that have been very interesting to see to what extent down the road we can converge to a common indicator That would be part of the family and also include incorporate many of the new things that have been developing in the literature on how to measure multi dimensional well, being. There, about political challenges, we did not incorporate that in our mandate. Well, it was not in our mandate, and I don't think we are the best people to assess that. I think it's something that will happen in the process of, hopefully, widespread uptake of what we're proposing. And also, I want to emphasize again that we're proposing outcome indicators, so Some of the interventions mentioned what we call enablers, like the importance of technological change and the quality of the state institutions, et cetera. Those are fundamental, but at least in my view, they need a different parallel process in identifying what are the drivers of the outcomes and how we're going to monitor whether those drivers are happening or not, and let me stop here. And thanks again. GA · Vice-President [1:40:54]: I think, Nora. I think we have completed, and I would like to now invite Ms. Amina Mohamed, Deputy Secretary General, to provide her observations and also to deliver some closing remarks. UN Secretariat · DSG [1:41:20]: Thank you very much, Mr. President, and thank you to our co-facilitators, but mostly thank you for all of those that have attended and the meaningful contributions that we have heard this afternoon. There are many challenges facing us, and often when I am speaking with Member States, you asked. We should not forget that we have outcomes from last year's major conferences that we also have to follow up on, and we have so much more to do to reach the 2030 agenda. Last year, what was meaningful in terms of the work that we have done, and it aligns with what we are trying to do on beyond GDP that came out of the pact, is the FFD4 in Seville and the platform for action, but also Doha, where it was important the inequalities discussion and the jobs, and Belem on the environment and climate. So important work that continues to be done by us all. And this meeting today, I think, pulls a very important thread of how we measure these commitments when we do implement them. And I hope that we will be able to engage you further as the report is released and the intergovernmental process starts. And this both in New York, but also in our other in our other places of work in Geneva, in Vienna, at the country level, across the world. I would, you know, again, just re-underscoring what my colleagues, participants have said, really important, the national ownership. And so therefore, we will put at the disposal of member states that connection through the RSCs and the UN country teams to continue this discussion guided by the report and the work of our experts. There has been a call, continuously, today and before, for support to the statistical commissions. This is not to overburden them. Of course, it will be more work, because we are trying to broaden those measures to be relevant in the lives of people and in the environment that we live in. However, I think that we will do so much more to lift what is needed for systems, not just the capacities of individuals but also the systems that need to to make this work. We are aligning with the many other measures that were mentioned by our member states today, including the MDVI, our multidimensional vulnerability index, the gender, and others. And we are absolutely sure that we are not replacing GDP. We are, in fact, reinforcing, strengthening that measure. Out of Seville came the Global Alliance, and we look forward to working closely with you so that we are ensured that the network that has come behind this helps us to reinforce the voice on the floor. As was indicated by many Member States, not everyone has the capacities available to them to engage, so the more we find the support for this, the better. There was a question from Panama about some additional, quite a bit of additional information that will come in due course, and I hope very quickly as we launch the report. But in the meantime, just to direct all of you to our website, it is really comprehensive. Everything is loaded up there. But I was also wondering, perhaps we could offer an updated fact sheet so that that helps to fill some of the gaps before, of course, the report comes out. But with that, I encourage everyone to engage with us, to engage with the intergovernmental process, of course, and messaging to our countries' capitals that this work now is coming to a space where we can now give input for discussions to happen. And I think as Professor Lustig said to us, it's the beginning. of another part of this discussions that have gone on for many years, but perhaps now we can begin to see how we implement. I think the dashboard, the additional minimal indicators that we talk about, begins for the rubber to hit the road beyond the research and the processes and the discussions. I think now is the time when we will need to make some move forward in this work that has been on the road for a long time. So our full support to everyone, and we very much look forward to continuing this discussion. And thank you for the space to hear you and to help inform the report as it comes out in the next few weeks. Thank you. GA · Vice-President [1:46:17]: I thank the Deputy Secretary General. With this, I would like to express my appreciation to the Deputy Secretary General the Co-Chairs and the High-Level Expert Group, the Under-Secretary-General of DESA, and to all participants for their contribution to this meeting. The informal meeting of the plenary is now concluded. The meeting is adjourned.