How Does Human Wellbeing Link To Sustainability Over Time?
Definition
Human Wellbeing
The quality of people’s lives, including their ability to meet their needs, feel safe and included, access opportunities (such as education and health care), and live in a healthy environment, both now and in the future.
- Sustainability is commonly studied through three pillars: social, economic, and environmental sustainability.
- Human wellbeing depends on all three because people need:
- Functioning societies
- Stable livelihoods, and
- A liveable planet.
Environmental sustainability protects the life support systems for wellbeing
- Environmental sustainability focuses on improving living standards without long term environmental damage that would harm future generations.
- It's closely tied to wellbeing because clean air, safe water, and a stable climate are foundations for health and security.
Example
- Biodiversity protection
- Stopping human-caused climate change
- Eliminating damage to the ozone layer
- Reducing pollution (air, water, noise, and others)
Note
Environmental damage usually becomes a human wellbeing problem through health impacts, food insecurity, disasters, displacement, and conflict over resources.
Economic sustainability enables long-term improvement without exclusion
- Economic sustainability is about risk management.
- This matters for wellbeing because economies shape jobs, incomes, public services, and the ability to respond to crises.
Analogy
- Consider a town that relies entirely on a single huge factory.
- When business is booming, the economy looks great.
- But as soon as the factory moves away or goes bust, the town loses more than jobs:
- Incomes vanish = families can't buy food.
- Public Services collapse = the local government can't fund the school or the hospital.
- Crisis response fails = the town has no savings to help people transition.
- That town was not economically sustainable because it didn't manage risk.
Social sustainability focuses on inclusion, rights, and equal access
- Social sustainability is development that is inclusive and improves living standards for all.
- This is the pillar of sustainability that directly overlaps with many common meanings of wellbeing: safety, rights, identity, and belonging.
- It incorporates everyone and ensures equal access to health care, education, and resources, while respecting cultures.
Note
- Social wellbeing is more than just services, it's also about voice and dignity.
- Rights such as voting, free speech, and access to justice affect whether people can shape decisions that influence their lives.
Why Does Wellbeing Require Trade-Off Thinking, Not Single-Issue Answers?
- Real decisions often involve trade-offs across the three pillars.
- For example, building a factory might:
- Improve wellbeing economically (jobs, income, tax revenue)
- Improve wellbeing socially (funding for schools or clinics)
- Harm wellbeing environmentally (air and water pollution)
- Alternatively, strict environmental regulation might:
- Protect long term health and ecosystems
- Raise short term costs for businesses and consumers
- Create political debates about fairness (who pays and who benefits)
Example
- An oil spill is an environmental event, but its wellbeing impacts spread across pillars:
- Environmental: damaged marine ecosystems and biodiversity
- Economic: loss of fishing income and tourism, expensive clean-up
- Social: health risks, community stress, and conflict over compensation
- A strong answer will identify all three and explain the connections.
How Is Objective And Subjective Evidence Used To Measure Human Wellbeing?
- Because wellbeing is multi-dimensional, it is usually assessed using a mixture of:
- Objective indicators (measurable conditions)
- Subjective indicators (people's reported experiences and feelings)
- Objective indicators often relate to the three pillars, for example:
- Social: literacy/education access, health care access, crime rates, water and sanitation access
- Economic: employment, income distribution, poverty rates, financial inclusion
- Environmental: air and water quality, exposure to pollution, access to green space
- Subjective indicators might include life satisfaction, perceived safety, or feelings of belonging.
Self review
- Why is relying on a single industry economically unsustainable?
- Beyond direct damage to nature, what are three specific ways environmental degradation becomes a human wellbeing problem?
- Besides providing basic services like healthcare, what fundamental aspect of human dignity does the "social sustainability" pillar protect?
- What is the distinct difference between objective and subjective wellbeing indicators?
