Investing in Inclusiveness, Sustainability and Growth

The report by the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on New Growth Models examines the failure of current global economic patterns to meet Sustainable Development Goals and climate commitments. It identifies systemic underinvestment in human and natural capital, rising income inequality, and a dangerous reliance on monetary policy over structural reform. The authors advocate for a 'dashboard' approach to measurement, aggressive carbon pricing to transition to a low-carbon economy, and large-scale investments in gender equality and workforce skills to restore sustainable, inclusive growth.

• Current global economic patterns are failing to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and climate commitments, characterized by faltering growth, rising inequality, and a fragile global economy.
• There is a systemic pattern of underinvestment in both public and private sectors, with an unsustainable reliance on leverage and high financial asset prices to maintain aggregate demand.
• Climate change is identified as the greatest threat to long-term prosperity, requiring a rapid transition to a low-carbon, energy-efficient economy through carbon pricing and stabilized fossil fuel pricing.
• Rising inequality is a multifaceted threat that undermines social cohesion and economic mobility, though balanced redistribution is argued to have a net positive effect on growth.
• Achieving full gender equality in education and the workplace by 2025 could increase global GDP by $28 trillion, or 26% relative to the business-as-usual scenario.
• The report advocates replacing the singular focus on GDP with a multidimensional 'dashboard' measurement system to track progress in growth, inclusion, and sustainability.
• Digital connectivity, particularly via smartphones, provides massive consumer benefits that are underestimated by conventional growth measures, generating a global consumer surplus of $6.4 trillion.

APA

World Economic Forum (2016). Investing in Inclusiveness, Sustainability and Growth. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_2016_Investing_Inclusiviness_Sustainability.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Investing in Inclusiveness, Sustainability and Growth. 2016. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_2016_Investing_Inclusiviness_Sustainability.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Investing in Inclusiveness, Sustainability and Growth |date=January 2016 |url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_2016_Investing_Inclusiviness_Sustainability.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2016investing, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Investing in Inclusiveness, Sustainability and Growth}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2016}, month = jan, url = {http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_2016_Investing_Inclusiviness_Sustainability.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }