Murder in the Climate Assembly is structured (see structure) with three elements: the main one is Iris Tate’s story i.e. the campus novel segment, there is the whodunnit set in a climate assembly – the story within the story, and there are snippets from philosophy lectures. Extracts 1, 2 and 3 shows how the idea of replacing the GDP with a wellbeing index occurs in each of these respectively.
Extract 1 (campus novel segment)
I headed for the path by the stream and sat on my bench. I gazed at the gurgling water and considered how I could integrate her solutions into the whodunnit. This had become my favourite time and place for creative musings. Lectures are done, staff and students have gone home, and the evening crowd heading for the union bar were yet to appear.
Gradually, the ideas took shape. Her first suggestion was to switch from the Gross Domestic Product as a measure of success to a wellbeing index, which would include environmental aspects. Once GDP, which was basically consumption, was no longer the key metric, then the conversation would change from what’s good for the economy to what’s good for us. Her second idea was personal carbon allowances. I’d initially dismissed them because they seemed too similar to carbon offsets which I’d already covered, but once she explained to me the difference, I was hooked. They’d be transformative.
Extract 2 (from whodunnit set in climate assembly)
STEVE: The trouble with personal carbon allowances is that the drop in consumption will cause a recession, people will protest and we’ll be rushing back to normal as fast as we can.
ANDREW: That’s because a recession is defined as a drop in the gross domestic product – that is, retail sales and manufacturing go down. Let’s do a thought experiment. Imagine everyone could get access to what they want without having to buy anything new, so they didn’t need to work so hard. Well-being has gone up, but GDP – gross domestic product has gone down. Recession is just a word. Does it matter if consumption has gone down if well-being has gone up?
BARRY: Then why is everyone chasing economic growth?
ANDREW Habit.
SARAH: Our last citizens’ jury decided that switching from the GDP as our key metric of success to a well-being index was a crucial climate solution. Then we could change the conversation from what’s good for the economy to what’s good for us. The assumption that they’re the same thing no longer holds up. Unfortunately back then citizens’ juries had no actual power.
Extract 3 (from philosopy lecture on utilitarianism)
An example is the way we judge the health of our society using quantifiable criteria such as production and consumption figures. This isn’t because these figures measure what’s most important, but because they’re easy to measure. Many have been calling for the Gross Domestic Product to be abandoned in favour of a wellbeing index, and this is beginning to happen. Bhutan was the first country to switch to a happiness index, which includes factors such as psychological health, living standards and environmental resilience. Other countries are following suit so that wellbeing is the key metric by which government policies are decided rather than economic factors alone.
