OneNature believes that in order to improve the well-being of all, we must move away from an emphasis on the “growth of the economy” as a goal and towards the “growth of well-being” as a goal. With this important shift, we can better prioritize and measure the impacts of policies and practices on the things that really matter and move us towards a healthy and happy future. Research shows that people focus on and improve the indicators that they measure. For example, people who measure the number of steps they take daily in a fitness tracker are more likely to increase their number of steps than those who do not measure steps. This is also true of what we measure in policy and society. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has served as a proxy for well-being for decades, and many have assumed that if GDP goes up, we must be doing well. In fact, GDP reveals very little about whether society as a whole is thriving. For example, despite the extended period of losses in workers’ earnings during the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Bureau of Economic Research announced that the US recession technically and officially ended in April 2020. One of the major factors in determining the timing of our economic recovery was that the third quarter of 2020 saw an increase in GDP of over 30 percent. Even in the fourth quarter, when COVID deaths were dramatically increasing, GDP still climbed at a rate of four percent. This clearly does not indicate an equivalent increase in well-being!
OneNature is dedicated to being part of the movement towards a well-being economy. We are delighted to partner with the Well-being Economy Alliance (WEAll) in this important work. There are many great partners in WEAll that are dedicated to shifting the understanding of growth away from economic growth alone and towards inclusive, holistic well-being. Our niche is working to include and measure the multiple ways that wildlife contributes to human well-being in this broader movement. Exploitation of wildlife and habitat vastly increases the risks of zoonotic viruses (viruses passed from animals to people) like COVID-19, becoming dangerous for people. A harmonious relationship with wildlife is necessary for our well-being. The evidence is clear, the presence of healthy and thriving wildlife is supportive not just of a sustainable economy, sustainable and resilient ecology, and human health outcomes, but also of our mental health, and can even support thriving culture and spirituality. Read more about OneNature’s partnership with WEAll and our goals within the well-being movement in our recent piece published on WEAll’s website.