Barbara Norman and colleagues write in The Converation (25.3.16) about the need for government authorities to rethink the ways that economic growth and development proposals are devised and assessed. One potential improvement, the authors argue, would be to create a national commission that advocated for sustainable development.
‘The Paris agreement on climate and the global consensus on a comprehensive set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are signals that a business-as-usual approach to meeting 21st-century challenges is hopeless. A deep societal and economic transformation to sustainable ways of living is essential.
‘Australia could make a good start towards this transformation by scrapping the Productivity Commission in favour of a contemporary Sustainable Development Commission with teeth. That may seem like a radical suggestion, but the case is compelling and urgent.’
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