11 Nov 2025
A fourth pillar of sustainability
When the World Commission on Environment and Development published its landmark report, Our Common Future, nearly 40 years ago it brought the world the concept of sustainable development, now commonly called sustainability. It established three pillars of sustainability: economic, social and environmental. At the time, wars were in the past. There was a global stability created by the fact that the two major power blocs in the world, neither NATO nor the then Soviet Union wanted to risk a war with nuclear weapons.
Times have changed. There are bloody conflicts in Ukraine, Palestine, Sudan and Myanmar. Russia is seen as a threat not just to Ukraine but to other European nations. China is expanding its military and trying to impose control over international waters of South China Sea. The head of NATO earlier this year called for more defense spending from Europe and Canada. The Canadian budget of November, which included a huge increase in military spending, said: “In an increasingly dangerous and divided world, Canada must be ready to defend our people and values…”
It is a primary duty of a government to protect its citizens. It might be time to broaden the concept of sustainability to include security as an essential element. It would be the fourth pillar.