EDITORIAL 12 May 2026 The United Nations wants scientists to help design indicators of progress that go beyond GDP. Researchers should seize the chance and be aware of past failures. You have full access to this article via your institution. Harmful impacts of greenhouse-gas emissions, such as those from transport, are not accounted for in GDP. Credit: RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post/Getty “Growth at any cost leaves us all poorer.” Those were the words of United Nations secretary-general António Guterres last week at the launch of a landmark report, Counting What Counts , which he commissioned from a team of researchers and policymakers ( www.un.org/beyondgdp ). It proposes how countries can move beyond gross domestic product (GDP), the world’s main indicator for the health of economies. How to measure a good life — tips for moving beyond GDP GDP has its roots in a concept proposed in the 1930s (see go.nature.com/4324jwf ), and GDP growth has since become the main economic-policy objective for most governments.…