Measuring Nature for Post-COVID-19 Economic Recovery

This case study by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) argues that gross domestic product (GDP) is an insufficient measure of economic health and national well-being, particularly during the post-COVID-19 recovery. It highlights the 'Measuring Wealth to Promote Sustainable Development Project,' which advocates for 'comprehensive wealth' accounting—incorporating natural, produced, human, financial, and social capital—to guide sustainable government policy and prevent environmental degradation.

• The document asserts that GDP is an inadequate primary metric for assessing pandemic recovery because it focuses on the total value of goods and services while ignoring long-term prosperity factors such as social inclusion, education, income distribution, and environmental degradation.
• The 'Measuring Wealth to Promote Sustainable Development' project promotes a 'comprehensive wealth' framework that tracks five specific types of capital: natural, produced, human, financial, and social capital.
• The IISD's work on comprehensive wealth has influenced the Canadian government, specifically appearing in a Ministry of Finance interim report regarding the creation of a Quality-of-Life Framework, which aligns with prosperity measures used in New Zealand.
• To expand the application of comprehensive wealth measures, the project is collaborating with academic institutions in Indonesia (Universitas Indonesia), Ethiopia (Mekele University), and Trinidad and Tobago (University of West Indies).
• The document references global initiatives to value nature, including the UK government's Dasgupta Review, which advocates for pricing natural capital on par with other capital, and the UN's System of Environmental-Economic Accounting—Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA EA).

APA

International Institute for Sustainable Development (2021). Measuring Nature for Post-COVID-19 Economic Recovery. https://www.iisd.org/articles/success-story/measuring-nature-post-covid-19-economic-recovery

Chicago

International Institute for Sustainable Development. Measuring Nature for Post-COVID-19 Economic Recovery. 2021. https://www.iisd.org/articles/success-story/measuring-nature-post-covid-19-economic-recovery.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=International Institute for Sustainable Development |title=Measuring Nature for Post-COVID-19 Economic Recovery |date=26 August 2021 |url=https://www.iisd.org/articles/success-story/measuring-nature-post-covid-19-economic-recovery |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{internationalinstituteforsustainabledevelopment2021measuring, author = {{International Institute for Sustainable Development}}, title = {{Measuring Nature for Post-COVID-19 Economic Recovery}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2021}, month = aug, url = {https://www.iisd.org/articles/success-story/measuring-nature-post-covid-19-economic-recovery}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }