At least twice in the last couple of weeks, I have heard Sustainability described as “a balance between environment, economy and society”.

No it isn’t.

“A balance” means trade-offs are seen as a viable part of Sustainability. Obviously, getting a badly unsustainable environment (and/or society) in return for a massive economic boom (AI..?) cannot be described as Sustainable. In fact, we could call it ‘business as usual’. Instead, we should be thinking about ‘and’ not ‘or’.

You might think I’m being pedantic here, but the ‘balance’ approach plays into the persistent media trope that Sustainability is some kind of sacrifice either socially or financially when it really isn’t/doesn’t have to be. Renewable energy is now the cheapest and quickest to deploy, bringing power (and thus modern conveniences) to the poor in countries like Pakistan and Zimbabwe. Win, win, win – what’s not to like?