Features Interview compare the performance of each state on these measures, as well as how to track performance against the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).” Green explains that, although the Social Progress Index doesn’t look like the SDGs, they are conceptually well-aligned. “The SDGs are a massive achievement, but they were a political compromise,” he says. “If you try to make an index out of the 17 SDGs, it wouldn’t be very robust. The Social Progress Index works as a decent measure of progress against the SDGs and, critically, it’s one that can measure the whole package. One of the big risks of the SDGs is we are going to end up focusing on just a small number of those we can measure.” The SDGs build on the success of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that were established in 2000 to improve the lives of the world’s poorest people. Green is concerned that the strategies used to meet the MDGs won’t work with the SDGs. Describing some analysis conducted in 2015 by professional services firm, Deloitte, Green says: “The question we had was ‘how much social progress could we buy with GDP growth and would that get us to the SDGs?’ The results were incredibly disappointing in terms of what economic growth is going to get for us. I think the story there is that we have used up the quick wins and I think we have sent out a very clear warning that the world will come nowhere near achieving success with the SDGs through economic growth alone.”
Productivity revolution Green is clear about what is needed to achieve the goals: “The SDGs have got to be about a productivity revolution in how we use our resources to deliver wellbeing for citizens,” he says. Believing that innovation is needed he adds: “There are two sets of problems in the world. The first are problems that are already being solved, such as nutrition, water, sanitation and education. There is a tight correlation with GDP per capita and we just need to push enough resources down the pipe. The second type is the unsolved problems around environmental policies, health and wellness, and tolerance and inclusion where there is no correlation with GDP. We need innovation to see what the solution is.” The Social Progress Index can help by providing insight into how the SDGs can be achieved, which can then be used as the basis of an action plan. Around the world, groups of countries have different challenges and the index provides countries with a means of comparing their performance with their peers. Denmark outperforms other countries, but Green doesn’t think it is appropriate to use it as the standard by which all countries are compared. “When we look at which countries overperform on social progress relative to their GDP, it’s not Denmark or any of the other usual suspects, it’s Nepal, Malawi, Costa Rica and Ghana. That’s important to say, because it’s a group of developing countries doing a really good job, which sometimes gets forgotten, and it provides much better examples of peer learning for the poorest countries.” 16 | THE ACTUARY | JUNE 2018
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It is not just developing countries that the index can be used for. In England, a project is being launched in the summer in Barking and Dagenham, results for US states were published in April, and an index developed by the Social Progress Imperative is being used to support the European Union’s cohesion policy. The index is also being used to shape policies for businesses. For example, Coca-Cola has been using it to think about the communities that are important to their supply chains. “The Social Progress Index is helping Coca-Cola, not just in its own corporate social responsibility but also to have a dialogue with the other actors, both public and private, to come up with consistent plans. And that’s been one of the real strengths of the index – it has created a common language that can bring different stakeholders together around what are the greatest needs of our community.”
Hopes for the future Green believes that businesses have a key role to play in social progress through the capital markets. “If we think about how the world is going to move on a more positive path, it’s going to have to be the capital markets that drive a lot of this effort. It’s tough in politics because the short term is so powerful. Capital markets can think longer term. If we had the bond markets pushing the government to do things that make more sense, this would be a help to both government and long-term, economic success. I think that’s a critical lever in our success.” Looking ahead to the future, Green has lots of plans and thinks there is an opportunity for actuaries to get involved. He says: “This is a great opportunity to speak to the actuarial community and think about what we have to do with the data so that it can start influencing decisions. We see all our data as a global public good and we love people to go away and work with it because experts will always use it better than we can. We know there are issues that actuaries have solutions to, so we are open to offers and ideas.” The Social Progress Index aims to track social progress over time. By offering policymakers a way to think of lots of different issues in one framework, it can also help inform discussions around priorities. Investment in the MDGs has already made a positive difference to the world and through initiatives such as the Social Progress Index and the SDGs, further steps are being taken for the future. While there are still many issues to be addressed, it is important to remember that changes are being made for the better. Green sums this up by saying: “The areas of risk are around human rights and measures of inclusion and tolerance, which have flatlined or got worse over the last five years. That is a concern but there is a lot of potential for progress. The data highlights that the world is moving forward. People have a misconception about how bad things are and don’t see how much things are changing.” www.theactuary.com
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