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Sustainability as Justice: Making the “Leave No One Behind” Work

Author

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  • Rallou Taratori
  • Flavio Comim

Abstract

This paper critically engages with the LNOB principle of the 2030 Agenda, highlighting its conceptual, methodological, and structural limitations. Building on Amartya Sen's social choice theory and Rawlsian justice, it reconceptualizes “sustainability as justice,” emphasizing real‐world comparative assessments grounded in intersectionality. It develops a novel methodological framework combining the CART algorithm and its descriptive and statistical outputs with the D‐index to systematically identify, measure and assess exclusion across plural informational spaces—resources, capabilities, rights and liberties, and subjective well‐being. Applying this framework to MICS data across nine countries, the paper reveals how conventional SDG disaggregation masks structural inequalities and fails to capture the realities of the worst‐off groups. Instead, it uncovers context‐specific patterns of deprivation and prioritization, offering targeted, empirically grounded insights for policy reforms. Ultimately, this approach reorients LNOB from an aspirational slogan to a justice‐centered, operational tool capable of diagnosing and addressing systemic disadvantage in sustainable development.

Suggested Citation

  • Rallou Taratori & Flavio Comim, 2026. "Sustainability as Justice: Making the “Leave No One Behind” Work," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(2), pages 1981-1999, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:sustdv:v:34:y:2026:i:2:p:1981-1999
    DOI: 10.1002/sd.70430
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Daniela Gottschlich & Leonie Bellina, 2017. "Environmental justice and care: critical emancipatory contributions to sustainability discourse," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 34(4), pages 941-953, December.
    3. United Nations UN, 2015. "Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development," Working Papers id:7559, eSocialSciences.
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    5. Nicolai Abramovich & Alexandru Vasiliu, 2023. "Sustainability as fairness: A Rawlsian framework linking intergenerational equity and the sustainable development goals (SDGs) with business practices," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(3), pages 1328-1342, June.
    6. Diane Elson, 2018. "Push no one behind," CDP Background Papers 043, United Nations, Department of Economics and Social Affairs.
    7. Sen, Amartya, 2000. "Social justice and the distribution of income," Handbook of Income Distribution, in: A.B. Atkinson & F. Bourguignon (ed.), Handbook of Income Distribution, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 1, pages 59-85, Elsevier.
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