We have previously highlighted the work of The Taskforce on Inequality and Social-related Financial Disclosures (TISFD). It is a similar initiative to TCFD but instead of climate related disclosures, it is oriented towards social related disclosures.
In their most recent newsletter, they launched an “open call for research to identify past, current or planned research – and to surface collaboration opportunities”.
One of the priority areas is, “People-nature-climate. How people-related impacts and risks are linked with nature and climate”. Our submission is below.
Our submission
This research proposes a science-based methodology for integrating environmental and human wellbeing metrics into a single indicator of long-term wellbeing. The approach uses the framework of Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to organise and interpret diverse datasets relating to human wellbeing and environmental sustainability. Within this framework, the higher levels of the hierarchy—social belonging, esteem, and self-actualisation—align with commonly used subjective wellbeing indicators found in social sustainability and quality-of-life reporting.
The methodology reinterprets the security level of the hierarchy as the security of supply of fundamental human needs, including food, water, clean air, and thermal comfort, as well as protection from physical harm. Environmental conditions directly influence the stability and availability of these necessities. Consequently, environmental degradation threatens the fulfilment of basic human needs, while environmental protection strengthens long-term human security and wellbeing. By linking environmental data to human needs within a hierarchical framework, the method integrates people, nature, and climate considerations into a coherent wellbeing model.
The proposed framework offers several advantages. First, it consolidates environmental and social indicators into a single metric representing long-term human wellbeing. Second, it provides a clear definition of desired outcomes by identifying the conditions required to meet human needs at each level of the hierarchy. Third, the approach is grounded in established scientific disciplines, including human biology, psychology, and environmental science. Finally, the methodology is designed to be verifiable, meaningful, and scalable, enabling application at multiple levels—from households and organisations to national assessments—while supporting consistent and transparent sustainability reporting.
The research proposes a science-based methodology to integrate environmental and wellbeing metrics into a single long-term wellbeing metric. It uses Maslow’s proven and respected hierarchy of human needs as a framework for combining and reporting on those metrics. The “higher” levels (social, esteem and self-actualisation) align with subjective wellbeing metrics that are used widely in social sustainability reporting. The security level in Maslow’s hierarchy is interpreted as security of supply of our basic needs (food, water, air, thermal comfort) as well as security from physical attack. As environmental degradation threatens the supply of these basic needs, then the inverse is true – protecting our environment helps with the security of all humans.
Advantages of the proposed methodology include:
- It combines people-nature-climate data into a single metric of long-term wellbeing
- It provides a definition of what good looks like
- It is science based combining human biology, psychology and hard environmental data
- It is verifiable and meaningful
- It is scalable and adaptable for households, organisations and countries
What next?
You can find out more about the research from the book “Happiness By Numbers” written by our MD Richard Lupo. The first chapter can be downloaded for free from our publications page.
Part of the journey to make social improvements is making environmental improvements and this starts with good quality and meaningful environmental reporting. As well as making a positive difference organisations can use these reports for compliance (e.g. SECR & ESOS). Please be in touch to chat to us about this: https://shiftenvironment.co.uk/contact/