This background paper was prepared for the 3rd meeting of the High Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the post-2015 agenda and explores economic growth and transformation in a post-2015 agreement.

The central task of those deliberating on, and eventually designing, a post-2015 sustainable development framework is to find a way of providing a common basis for responding to the challenges of the 21st century, while finishing off the job begun in the 20th of ending extreme poverty.

Economic growth and transformation will be a part of this story, whether they are specifically included in the new agreement or not. It is economic growth which provides the resources to support improvements in individual lives, as well as provision for healthcare, education, and other key aspects of improving people’s wellbeing. And it is economic transformation which will maintain those improvements over time, and spread them to parts of the world currently lagging behind.