New Study Warns Global Sustainability Agenda Overlooks Human Wellbeing

The success of global sustainability efforts is often measured in economic terms, but a new study is questioning whether development research adequately reflects how people actually live and feel.

A study led by Charles Darwin University (CDU) has examined the extent to which human wellbeing encompassing life satisfaction, happiness, quality of life, and living standards is integrated into global development research linked to the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The research is the first comprehensive review to assess how wellbeing aligns with both the MDGs and the SDGs, which guide international development efforts. Although wellbeing is explicitly referenced under SDG Goal 3 on Good Health and Wellbeing, the study argues that the concept extends across all 17 goals.

The researchers reviewed global studies published between 2007 and 2024 that examined wellbeing in relation to the MDGs and SDGs. Their findings reveal that while wellbeing is widely acknowledged in development discourse, it remains unevenly explored, with research heavily concentrated in high income countries and limited representation from developing nations, Indigenous populations, and remote communities.

“Wellbeing lies at the heart of the global sustainability challenge,” said lead author Dr Mohammad Rajib Hasan, an Associate Lecturer in Business and Economics at CDU. “It goes beyond health or income. It is about how people feel about their lives, their sense of security, opportunity, and purpose. Yet global progress is still largely assessed through GDP and economic output rather than human fulfilment.”

Dr Hasan noted that the dominance of high income countries in wellbeing research has left critical voices unheard, particularly from the Global South.

“The lived experiences of people in developing regions, Indigenous communities, and remote areas remain largely absent from the data,” he said. “This gap is partly due to underinvestment in social science research and the high cost of large scale surveys that capture people’s real experiences.”

The review identified strong positive links between wellbeing and several SDGs, including health (Goal 3), education (Goal 4), environmental quality and climate action (Goal 13), and governance and institutions (Goal 16). Education emerged as a key bridge connecting sustainability objectives with improved wellbeing outcomes.

However, the study also found evidence of short term trade offs between wellbeing and certain sustainability goals, particularly responsible consumption (Goal 12) and climate action (Goal 13), where lifestyle or economic adjustments may initially reduce life satisfaction.

Dr Hasan said the findings highlight the need for development policies that place human wellbeing at the centre of sustainability efforts and for governments to measure wellbeing alongside traditional economic indicators.

“Economic growth without wellbeing is hollow,” he said. “Sustainability must be judged by its ability to expand people’s freedoms, improve their quality of life, and make them happier, not only by environmental or fiscal targets.”

He added that development strategies should be socially inclusive and culturally meaningful to ensure the benefits of sustainable development are shared more equitably.

“Governments must design policies that are not only economically sustainable but also socially just. That is the only way the global development agenda can truly serve all people, not just those in developed regions.”