This paper written by Hetan Shah and Jules Peck was commissioned to the new economics foundation (nef) by the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) to examine the relationship between well-being and the environment. The first part draws together some evidence suggesting that local natural environments meet a wide range of human needs and promotes well-being. The authors show the disconnection between life satisfaction and economic growth. They turn then to the question of how people could all live within their environmental means and yet maintain or increase their quality of life. This leads them to formulate five ways of taking forward a concept of sustainable development with quality of life at is heart.