Beyond “benefits”? Looking at ecosystem services through the capability approach

Current conceptual debates on the impacts of ecosystem services (ESS) on human well-being often boil down to discussing the application and limitations of monetisation approaches. Meanwhile we argue that ESS can be understood in a richer and more nuanced way if we revisit the human well-being dimension of the ESS concept, going beyond the widely cited notion of “benefits” as put forward by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA, 2005) and transcending the currently prevalent utilitarian framing. Hence, we examine ESS through the lens of the capability approach, which offers a multidimensional framework for human well-being as an alternative to mainstream utilitarian and opulence perspectives. Within this framework, ESS can be effectively viewed as contributing - in a diversity of ways - to people's capabilities, i.e., their freedoms to lead lives they have reason to value. Such a view opens up a richer debate on the human dimension of ESS and points to new potential areas and ways of application of the ESS concept.

► The well-being dimension of the ecosystem services (ESS) concept remains understudied. ► We adopt the multi-dimensional framework of the capability approach for examining ESS. ► It allows us to transcend the predominant utilitarian framing. ► We show a diversity of ways in which ESS contribute to human well-being. ► This leads to a more elaborated understanding of ESS, with particular implications for cultural ESS.