Introduction

Some natural disasters are not strictly natural since they are provoked or exacerbated by human activities that produce CO₂ and other greenhouse gases. Increases in these emissions have been largely associated with a growing world population and increased economic activities in agriculture and industry that use intensively fossil fuels, and/or resort to deforestation. Interpreting the behaviour of economic agents has generally relied on models that use simple postulates. The term ‘progress in wellbeing’ used in this monograph refers to the perennial enhancement of humankind’s overarching goals of wellbeing, in symbiosis with a healthy natural environment. An inter-disciplinary approach is deemed increasingly productive in probing the essence of wellbeing and of changes related to that condition within a framework of socio-economic globalization, instantaneous interconnectedness and interdependence, and rising environmental risks. Arguments about caring for the destitute worldwide are reinforced by the self-interest of protecting the wellbeing of the well-to-do individuals or communities.