CEO Insight: Paving a New Path to Prosperity

Is it enough to save the planet? End world hunger? Or achieve gender equality?

The answer is surely a resounding ‘Yes’, but development encompasses more than just rectifying past injustices and overcoming challenges. It’s also about forging ahead towards sustainable growth and prosperity. This resonates with A4ID’s vision of poverty eradication: tackling injustices stemming from the absence of basic necessities, resources and rights, while simultaneously envisioning a future where support and empowerment lead to more effective positive changes for these communities.

As the Legatum Prosperity Index frames it, true prosperity occurs when “all people have the opportunity to thrive by fulfilling their unique potential and playing their part in strengthening their communities and nations.” This definition relies on three fundamental components: inclusivity that promotes the protection of all peoples and their liberties; an open economy that harnesses new ideas and fair and consistent regulation; and empowered people, whose mental and physical well-being is tantamount to prosperity, can determine their own paths free from poverty, and are enabled to reach their potential.

This nuanced understanding shows that prosperity and its attainment in society is multidimensional highlighting the requirement of collaborative action across public and private sectors ensuring that no one is left behind.

Prosperity and the Sustainable Development Goals

Within the framework of the SDG Agenda, prosperity stands out as one of the five fundamental aspirations for a better world. Embedded within SDGs 7 to 11, it is reflected in the goals on industrialisation, the growth of new enterprise, enhancing labour practices and promoting workplace welfare. Collectively these SDGs harness the potential of industry and its workforce to construct a more resilient, sustainable, and inclusive global community.

Humans, after all, dedicate a significant proportion of their lives to work, investing time and effort while acquiring new skills, knowledge and innovative ideas to improve their own lives and those of others. At the same time, industrial growth plays a pivotal role. It serves as a foundation upon which historical development has been built, offering a mechanism for generating new forms of value and bringing sustainable futures into existence. Leveraged effectively, this dynamic combination has the potential to expedite the achievement of several SDG targets beyond current projections.

Why do we think this? Because the opposite proved true. When global workforces ground to a halt, reversing progress in inclusive staffing and removing economic stability for large swathes of the population, numerous SDG benchmarks stagnated, if not regressed. The COVID-19 pandemic extended the 2030 SDG deadline further and from our reach, highlighting the critical importance of industry, labour, welfare, and healthy societies in the functioning of nation-states and the global order.

Simultaneously, this period called for a number of highly delicate trade-offs making tough decisions at a national level, where economic and social objectives often clashed. A 2022 study by the OECD found that the result has been only modest progress towards achieving the prosperity goals, given the need for both components to succeed in tandem.

White, it might be tempting to view the prosperity SDGs as split in half – one half focusing on the non-human aspects of industry (i.e.: SDGs 7, 9 and 11) and the other half focused on human labour (i.e.: SDGs 8 and 10)- within the SDG framework, these elemants are inherently intertwined. For instance, the objectives of SDG 8 aimed at safeguarding individual rights to decent work, encompassing safe working conditions, fair wages and social protection for families, direct contribute to creating workplaces conducive to inspiring innovative solutions for just transitions (SDG 7), developing new infrastructure (SDG 9) and creating more sustainable urban environments (SDG 11). Similarly, the goals of SDG 10 centred on reducing inequality within and among nations have knock on effects on SDG 8, where addressing discrimination necessitates ensuring equitable treatment and providing additional safeguards for vulnerable groups in workplaces, healthcare and social settings.

Measuring Prosperity

It is no wonder then, that there have long been calls to move away from the more conventional measure of a country’s prosperity solely through its GDP which is a metric that often misinterprets prosperity as merely profitability. Instead, recognising the importance if extending beyond monetary gains to include the value of social, human, and natural capital enables a broader consideration of externalities and dependencies within industry and commerce.

Consider this: while a surplus in goods may mean more profit, it could also lead to deficits in natural resources. Seen this way, the monetary gains are offset by the depletion of natural capital.  India serves as a prime example: the nation’s rapid economic growth and high productivity have driven GDP increases, but at the same time have reduced quality of natural resources, such as water contamination in Bengaluru’s lakes and air pollution in Delhi.

Revised metrics for measuring prosperity are therefore needed, and have been developed through frameworks such as the UNDP’s Human Development Index (HDI), measuring ‘prosperity’ across key aspects of human and social wellbeing. Factors such as life expectancy, education and a decent standard of living are regarded as fundamental in fostering prosperous communities. The Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI) goes further, accounting for the distribution of these achievements among citizens, emphasising the need for everyone to have access to opportunities to build a life free from poverty.

To realign all prosperity targets, these metrics provide a better means for reconciling the social and economic dimensions of the prosperity goals. Achieving this requires the adoption of a a human rights approach to industrialisation and economic growth models. It is here that the role of law firms and legal professionals becomes crucial, as they can advocate for and advise on private profit-driven interests while also upholding accountability to the rule of law and ensuring the proper administration of justice.

The Legal Sector’s Role in Achieving ‘Prosperity’ Goals

To achieve the SDG’s by 2030, we need everyone to adopt this redefined understanding of prosperity and its new measuring system-a feat that will require cross-sector support. Legal professionals will need to play a more critical role in advancing policies and legal frameworks that promote prosperity in line with sustainable development.

Over the past few years A4ID has published a Legal Guide to each of the Sustainable Development Goals. Aimed at empowering legal professionals in realising the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Agenda, each guide provides an overview of the specific ways that international and national legal frameworks relate to sustainability objectives.

During our Annual Conference focusing on “Responsible Business and the SDGs: A Roadmap to Prosperity” which takes place on the 21 may we will be launching Legal Guides focussing on Affordable Energy and Clean Energy(SDG 7), Decent Work and Economic Growth(SDG 8), Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure(SDG 9), Reduced Inequalities(SDG10) and Sustainable Cities and Communities(SDG11).

We hope these guides act as a reminder that while we do need to recover from the many crises facing today’s world, there is also a desire to work prospectively in building back better – championing a new path to prosperity.

They form part of A4ID’s wider call to action under the SDG Legal Initiative to see lawyers play a more active role in shaping and building a more sustainable and prosperous future for all.

Recommendations for the Legal Sector Include:

• Advocating for inclusive policies that prioritise the safety and protection of human rights; ensuring fair treatment in workplaces, healthcare, social contexts, and equal opportunities for all.

• Advising governments on creating frameworks for sustainable business practices that promote open economic growth, ensure fair and consistent regulation, and encourage innovation – particularly in clean energy and infrastructure.
• Contributing to the development and implementation of measuring systems that capture the multi-faceted nature of prosperity and wellbeing, promoting economic and social growth collectively, and
• Advocating for policies that require business and governments to account for negative externalities such as environmental degradation.
• Advising on industrial best practice to account for wider due diligence and risk factors, such as the externalities of business operations and trade-offs in decision making.

We welcome all stakeholders to take action by:

1. Reading the SDG Legal Guides for inspiration on how lawyers can better contribute to the goals of prosperity,
2. Contributing your expertise to a growing community of global legal professionals and sustainability champions under the SDG Legal Initiative, and
3. Joining us at the A4ID 2024 Annual Conference: ‘Responsible Business and the SDGs: A Roadmap to Prosperity’ so that we may continue these conversations openly, inclusively and proactively.