Nature's Sovereignty - LDC Graduation Beyond GDP: Net Capital Sustainability Approach
Press Conference at COP31|Nature's Sovereignty - LDC Graduation Beyond GDP: Net Capital Sustainability Approach.
Date: 13 November 2026 (Friday)
Time: Türkiye Time: 12:30 PM – 13:00 PM (UTC+3)
Venue: Press Conference Room 2, Area D4 · Yunus Emre, COP31, Antalya, Türkiye.
On 26 August, an ice-rock avalanche in Nepal became a debris flow that tore through the Bhote Koshi valley. Nepal needs about US$4.8 billion to recover. So far, the UN loss and damage fund has set aside US$20 million.
When the valley is rebuilt, GDP will count the rebuilding as growth. The destruction will never be subtracted.
At COP31 in Antalya, Change Initiative presents evidence that the rules for leaving the Least Developed Country category measure income, but not the natural capital and resilience beneath it. LDCs lose more than eleven times as much of their GDP to disasters as the world average, yet no graduation test asks whether that capital is being kept intact.
We propose a Net Capital Sustainability Test, grounded in Natural Rights-Led Governance: count what we lose, not only what we add.
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