New indicators of wellbeing, beyond GDP, sorely needed, ADPD says

ADPD has welcomed the Church in Malta’s recognition of how wellbeing in a country goes beyond the measure of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), as highlighted in a document on wellbeing and quality of life published by the Maltese diocese last week.

In a statement on Tueday, ADPD praised the Church for recognising, black on white, that wellbeing depends on many factors.

Before merging into one party, AD and PD had already been insisting on the need for holistic policies which recognise that people need healthy societies, and that wellbeing also means living within the limits imposed by nature. Various NGOs have also been working to promote wellbeing.

“Our proposals for a better quality of life range from those on the principle of environmental protection to become an enforceable constitutional principle, to economic and social proposals in the Green New Deal drawn up with our European Green Party partners, and in the post-pandemic Green Plan for Malta,” the party said.
ADPD secretary general Ralph Cassar said that GDP should be just one of a whole set of wellbeing indicators used to measure the social and ecological wellbeing of the country.

These new indicators should be used to guide economic policy and decisions on where government spending should be targeted to improve wellbeing.

“We propose a multi-year budget plan rather than short-termism inherent in one year budgeting,” he said. “GDP, in fact, does not measure the effects of economic decisions on poverty, equality, the sustainability of the economic model, and the devastating effects of certain policies on the climate and ecosystems.”

Cassar said it is also high time that the country adopts economic policies based on the concept of 'doughnut economics', which recognise the need to calibrate economies, including on a European and global scale, to provide a good life for all while respecting the ecological limits of our planet.

“This is precisely why there is a need for a serious and in-depth discussion on the current model of taxation that is allowing multinationals to free ride on the services and resources offered by society without meaningfully contributing to ecological and social wellbeing,” he said. “We are already late, and it is heartening to see that the Church in Malta is also contributing to this very important public and democratic discussion.”