Un chief calls for revolutionary economic shift away from gdp to prevent environmental collapse

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres is sounding the alarm on humanity’s economic systems, arguing that the world must fundamentally reimagine how it measures success to avoid planetary disaster. In an exclusive interview with The Guardian following a high-level UN meeting with prominent global economists, Guterres emphasized that current accounting methods are actively rewarding the very activities that are pushing Earth’s ecosystems to their breaking point.

The UN chief’s stark warning centers on the urgent need to overhaul what he calls the world’s “existing accounting systems” that prioritize short-term economic gains over long-term environmental sustainability. Under current GDP-focused models, activities that pollute air and water, deplete natural resources, and generate massive waste are often counted as positive economic contributions, creating perverse incentives that accelerate environmental degradation.

Guterres argues that this fundamental flaw in how nations measure economic progress is driving humanity toward ecological collapse. The secretary-general’s call for transformation reflects growing recognition among economists and policymakers that traditional metrics like Gross Domestic Product fail to account for environmental costs and the depletion of natural capital that underpins all economic activity.

The timing of Guterres’ warning is particularly significant as nations grapple with mounting evidence that economic growth continues to drive dangerous levels of global heating and environmental destruction. His call for radical economic transformation suggests that addressing the climate crisis will require not just technological solutions, but a complete reimagining of the fundamental principles that guide global economic decision-making.