What Sustainability in Today's World Really Means...

After a meeting and a separate chat that I had this week, I started asking myself, sustainability is a word that keeps getting thrown around a lot by corporations to marketers, and even that GenZ friend who reminds you to bring your own bag and straw.

However, in today's world, where the average joe is more worried about whether he can sustain his pay check versus rising sea levels, I feel it is worth asking: what does sustainability truly mean?

In my humble opinion, I see sustainability as a bit of a luxury. Hearing of people left, right, and centre either being retrenched or getting pay cuts, especially those with multi-generational families to feed, it is hard to anticipate life 50 years down the road when you're stressed out trying to figure out how to survive the end of the month.

AI is not going anywhere and for most, AI threatens job security, inflation and various taxes are raising the cost of groceries, it feels like everything is getting worse before it gets better. In fact, it feels like the world is burning to the ground, both literally and figuratively.

Sustainability thus starts to sound like a problem aimed at people with the luxury of time, money, and a stress-free state of mind. But therein lies the problem.

Sustainability isn't merely about the planet, it's actually about people.

Strip away all that glossy greenwashing (in this case) and all that jargon and let's look at the core of sustainability, which basically is can we live the way we live without Earth or its inhabitants breaking down?

I can bet that if you ask this to anyone, you will get a resounding no. It's a no-brainer of an answer.

Sustainability goes beyond plastic straws or melting ice caps. It's about the average joe being able to put food on the table, have a roof over their head, breathe clean air, drink clean water, and at least, be confident that their children has the ability to have a future. It is finding that balance in society, economy, nature, and in your own life.

So, here's what I think sustainability should look like in 2025. In no particular order:

1. Human-centric: Sustainability must prioritise people not just lowering emissions. People resist policies that can potentially lead to job loss. Now, presenting green tech as a means to introduce new industries and opportunities to upskill which thus lead to new jobs, people will welcome it with open arms.

2. Which leads to acknowledgement of fear and anxiety: People fear what they don’t understand. Change is inevitable but that doesn’t mean we don’t fear it. People need to understand that sustainability means opportunity, hope, and a chance for positive change in terms of society, countries, and yes, even improved work spaces.

3. Affordability: If I am worried about whether I can pay my monthly bills, the last thing that I will think about is going green, especially when in most cases, it costs way more than the more harmful option. The only way to win everyone over is to make it accessible, simple, and obviously, cheaper. Do this, and sustainability will be …

4. More than the current buzzword. Many abuse the word sustainability as part of their brand strategy. Reframe how you view sustainability as it is about systems thinking. Using this approach allows us to rethink how we live and consume while relooking at how to be sustainable in the long haul.

Being sustainable is about surviving and being smart about it.

We can’t view sustainability as yet another branding opportunity or something we should do when we have the time, money, and patience. We need to rework it into a main storyline.

Reframe how you visualise sustainability when you next think or speak about it. Don’t think of polar bears. Visualise healthcare access, job security, and even affordable housing, not only working together not only for us now, but for the very near future.

The true essence of sustainability means that not only can we thrive as part of the human race, but so can our communities, and in turn, that means our planet too.

Now, isn’t that a future truly worth fighting for?

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