IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/sustdv/v34y2026is2p556-587.html

Is There Commonality in Global Sustainability From Different Environment‐Human Perspectives?

Author

Listed:
  • Jason Phillips

Abstract

If sustainability transition are to occur, then determining commonality of sustainability outcomes is necessary. However, determining commonality is challenging due to sustainability's multi‐dimensional nature. This paper determines whether there is commonality of global sustainability outcomes between four environment‐human perspectives (i.e., vulnerability, Brundtland, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the Doughnut model) and what is its nature and degree, based upon the Sustainability Dynamics Framework (SDF). The results indicate three fundamental global commonalities occurring, which reflects the significantly detrimental influences and impacts of the anthropocentric Brundtland and SDGs perspectives. Based upon the findings from this paper and previous SDF studies, the case for re‐framing the SDGs from a Brundtland to Doughnut‐based framework is outlined. The paper concludes by stating that sustainability needs to be seen as a fundamental law of nature rather than a goal, if humanity is to avoid a dire fate for itself and the planet.

Suggested Citation

  • Jason Phillips, 2026. "Is There Commonality in Global Sustainability From Different Environment‐Human Perspectives?," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(S2), pages 556-587, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:sustdv:v:34:y:2026:i:s2:p:556-587
    DOI: 10.1002/sd.70357
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.70357
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/sd.70357?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jason Phillips, 2021. "The application of the Geocybernetic Assessment Matrix to the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(5), pages 7550-7572, May.
    2. Phillips, Jason, 2010. "Evaluating the level and nature of sustainable development for a geothermal power plant," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(8), pages 2414-2425, October.
    3. Siegel, Karen M. & Bastos Lima, Mairon G., 2020. "When international sustainability frameworks encounter domestic politics: The sustainable development goals and agri-food governance in South America," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    4. United Nations UN, 2015. "Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development," Working Papers id:7559, eSocialSciences.
    5. Juliana Segura-Salazar & Luís Marcelo Tavares, 2018. "Sustainability in the Minerals Industry: Seeking a Consensus on Its Meaning," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-38, May.
    6. Phillips, Jason & Whiting, Kai, 2016. "A geocybernetic analysis of the principles of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI)," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 248-265.
    7. Anjila Wegge Hjalsted & Alexis Laurent & Martin Marchman Andersen & Karen Holm Olsen & Morten Ryberg & Michael Hauschild, 2021. "Sharing the safe operating space: Exploring ethical allocation principles to operationalize the planetary boundaries and assess absolute sustainability at individual and industrial sector levels," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 25(1), pages 6-19, February.
    8. David Pearce & Giles Atkinson, 1998. "The concept of sustainable development: An evaluation of its usefulness ten years after Brundtland," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics (SJES), Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics (SSES), vol. 134(3), pages 251-269, September.
    9. Azemeraw Tadesse Mengistu & Roberto Panizzolo, 2023. "Analysis of indicators used for measuring industrial sustainability: a systematic review," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(3), pages 1979-2005, March.
    10. David Pearce & Giles Atkinson, 1998. "Concept of sustainable development: An evaluation of its usefulness 10 years after Brundtland," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 1(2), pages 95-111, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Cristina Balaceanu & Diana Apostol, 2014. "Gdp As A Measuring Instrument For The Human Development," Annals - Economy Series, Constantin Brancusi University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 6, pages 69-72, December.
    2. Jeong Hwan Bae, 2018. "Impacts of Income Inequality on CO2 Emission under Different Climate Change Mitigation Policies," Korean Economic Review, Korean Economic Association, vol. 34, pages 187-211.
    3. Figge, Frank & Hahn, Tobias, 2004. "Sustainable Value Added--measuring corporate contributions to sustainability beyond eco-efficiency," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 173-187, February.
    4. Andrei ROTH & Cătălin PETCU, 2015. "Sustainable Development, Energy And Climate Change In The European Union," SEA - Practical Application of Science, Romanian Foundation for Business Intelligence, Editorial Department, issue 7, pages 503-511, April.
    5. Jason Phillips, 2024. "Quantifying the levels, nature, and dynamics of sustainability for the UK 2000–2018 from a Brundtland perspective," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(7), pages 17905-17939, July.
    6. Minhua Lu, 2025. "How new quality productivity drives china’s sustainable development: Evidence from dynamic indicator evolution," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 20(12), pages 1-19, December.
    7. McGrath, Luke & Hynes, Stephen & McHale, John, 2019. "Augmenting the World Bank's estimates: Ireland's genuine savings through boom and bust," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 1-1.
    8. Luke McGrath & Stephen Hynes & John McHale, 2022. "The Air we Breathe: Estimates of Air Pollution Extended Genuine Savings for Europe," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 68(1), pages 161-188, March.
    9. Ben Yu & Daigee Shaw & Tsu-Tan Fu & Lawrence Lai, 2000. "Property rights and contractual approach to sustainable development," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 3(3), pages 291-309, September.
    10. Priti Agarwal & Aparna Sawhney, 2021. "Sustainability and comprehensive wealth accounting: the case of India," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 3762-3786, March.
    11. Jaemin Song & Chang‐Ho Jang, 2023. "Unpacking the sustainable development goals (SDGs) interlinkages: A semantic network analysis of the SDGs targets," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(4), pages 2784-2796, August.
    12. Constantin Mitrut & Cristina Balaceanu & Mihaela Gruiescu & Daniela Serban, 2015. "The Macroeconomic Framework of Support Analysis for Sustainable Businesses Development," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 17(40), pages 1068-1068, August.
    13. Azam, Muhammad & Hunjra, Ahmed Imran & Taskin, Dilvin & Al-Faryan, Mamdouh Abdulaziz Saleh, 2023. "Role of ethnic conflicts, regularization and natural resource abundance in sustainable development," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PB).
    14. Mota, Rui Pedro & Domingos, Tiago & Martins, Victor, 2010. "Analysis of genuine saving and potential green net national income: Portugal, 1990-2005," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(10), pages 1934-1942, August.
    15. Luke McGrath & Stephen Hynes & John McHale, 2020. "Linking Sustainable Development Assessment in Ireland and the European Union with Economic Theory," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 51(2), pages 327-355.
    16. Dosi, Cesare & Easter, K. William, 2000. "Water Scarcity: Economic Approaches To Improving Management," Working Papers 14461, University of Minnesota, Center for International Food and Agricultural Policy.
    17. Chonlawan Thammaraksa & Michael Zwicky Hauschild & Caroline Aggestam Pontoppidan & Alexis Laurent, 2025. "What Is a Sustainable Company?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(3), pages 3635-3655, March.
    18. Hyunsoo Kang, 2022. "Impacts of Income Inequality and Economic Growth on CO 2 Emissions: Comparing the Gini Coefficient and the Top Income Share in OECD Countries," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-15, September.
    19. Francesco Prota, 2002. "Water Resources And Water Policies," Working Papers 8_2002, D.E.S. (Department of Economic Studies), University of Naples "Parthenope", Italy.
    20. Russo Lopes, Gabriela & Bastos Lima, Mairon G. & Reis, Tiago N.P. dos, 2021. "Maldevelopment revisited: Inclusiveness and social impacts of soy expansion over Brazil’s Cerrado in Matopiba," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:sustdv:v:34:y:2026:i:s2:p:556-587. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-1719 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.