Spatio-temporal dynamics of local and tele-coupling coordination and its driving mechanisms between ecosystem services and human well-being from efficiency and fairness perspectives

How to enhance human well-being while maintaining ecosystem services represents a core concern in achieving the sustainable development goals. Efficiency and fairness are key dimensions during the conversion process from ecosystem services to human well‑being, but prioritizing one often comes at the expense of the other. Therefore, this study develops a comprehensive analytical framework to explore the global synergistic relationship between ecological well‑being conversion efficiency and fairness in the years of 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020. The key findings are as follows: (1) Global human well-being increased by approximately 12 % whereas ecosystem services declined by approximately 9 % during the study period. High‑income countries exhibited high ecological well-being conversion efficiency but deficit-type fairness, while low‑income countries were trapped in a dual dilemma of low conversion efficiency and fairness; (2) The synergistic development of ecological well-being conversion efficiency and fairness shows an improving trend, with the annual average dynamic local and tele-coupling coordination degree (LTCCD) increasing steadily from 0.48 to 0.51; (3) The spatial correlation of dynamic LTCCD remains weak at the global scale, and social factors demonstrate stronger explanatory power for dynamic LTCCD than other influencing factors. This research provides a new perspective for understanding the interactions between ecosystem services and human well-being, and offers a valuable foundation for designing regionally differentiated policies aimed at enhancing ecological well-being outcomes and promoting equitable ecological well-being distribution.