



It will be Green Growth or No Growth at all, in the not too distant future. Which one is up to us? A bold statement? Not at all. Please follow me to see what the Sustainable Society Index (SSI) can tell us in this respect. Every two years since 2006 the SSI shows at a glance the level of sustainability of 151 countries, comprising 99% of the world population. The SSI consists of 21 indicators, covering the three wellbeing dimensions Human (HW), Environmental (EW) and Economic Wellbeing (EcW).
All data are retrieved from public sources: FAO, Aquastat, Unesco, World Bank, IEA, ILO, IMF, World Economic Forum, UNEP-WCMC, Global Footprint Network, FiBL.
In 2012 the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission has audited the SSI. JRC concluded that "the SSI framework is conceptually coherent, meets the statistical requirements set by JRC and that the SSI is well suited to assess nations" development towards sustainability in its broad sense: Human, Environmental and Economic Wellbeing.


Over the last 20 years, economic growth has helped to lift almost a billion people out of extreme poverty. But 1 billion people are still extremely poor. 1.1 billion live without electricity and 2.5 billion people without access to sanitation. For them, growth has not been inclusive enough.
In addition, growth has come at the expense of the environment. While environmental degradation affects everyone, the poor are more vulnerable to violent weather, floods, and a changing climate. Development experts, policymakers, and institutions like the World Bank have learned a major lesson: If we want to succeed in ending poverty, growth needs to be inclusive and sustainable.



