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A Review of the Elements of Human Well-Being with Emphasis on the Contribution of Ecosystem Services
Citation:
Summers, Kevin. A Review of the Elements of Human Well-Being with Emphasis on the Contribution of Ecosystem Services. Presented at 10th International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic and Social Sustainabilty, Split, CROATIA, January 22 - 24, 2014.
Impact/Purpose:
Describe the relationships of ecosystem services to human well-being and the roles of social equity and intergenerational equity in making well-being sustainable
Description:
Natural ecosystems perform fundamental life-support services upon which human civilization depends. However, many people believe that Nature provides these services for free and therefore, they are of little or no value. While we do not pay for them; we pay significantly for their loss in terms of wastewater treatment facilities, moratoriums on greenhouse gases, increased illnesses, reduced soil fertility and losses in those images of Nature that contribute to our basic happiness. Little is understood about the wellbeing benefits of the natural environment and its ecosystem seNices. The interwoven relationship of ecosystems and human well-being is insufficiently acknowledged in the wider philosophical, social, and economic well-being literature. In this paper we discuss an approach to examining human well-being and the interactions of its four primary elements - basic human needs, economic needs, environmental needs and subjective well-being - and ecosystem services. The relationship of sustainable well-being to social equity and intergenerational equity is also discussed.