Sustainability and power politics

When the World Commission on Environment and Development popularized the concept of sustainability in 1987 the world was ready for a change. The Cold War between the then Soviet Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was winding down. The world had come together to save the ozone layer. acid rain was being controlled in many nations. Big corporations were tired of fighting one pollution crisis after another and were looking for a way of doing business without creating major environmental problems. Politicians, business leaders and environmentalists began to sit at the same table and look for solutions that all could live with. We had the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development and Earth Summit with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change which has led to annual meetings on how to stop the climate disaster. In 2015, the United Nations agreed on a set of sustainability goals while the Paris Agreement on climate change set goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions to safe levels.

It’s a different world today. In 2022 Russia invaded and is still trying to conquer Ukraine. This year the United States and Israel launched a surprise attack on Iran and the outcome is far from certain. There are a number of civil and regional conflicts in Africa, the Middle East and southeast Asia. U.S. President Donald Trump is working hard to promote the use of fossil fuels that worsen climate change and trying to block cleaner forms of energy generation. He has been withdrawing the United States from international institutions and agreements important to sustainability.

At the World Economic Forum in early 2026 Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney made it clear that a new world order that has emerged: “…we live in an era of great power rivalry … the rules-based order is fading…” Canada, like many other nations, has been under economic attack by the United States under Trump. As a result, the Canadian government which previously had been trying to limit fossil fuel expansion, is now turning to it as an economic lifeline.

Where do we go now to make any progress on sustainability? Countries along with their local and regional governments as well as businesses have policies, programs and operations that are more sustainable. The problem is trying to get global action. Recent Conference of the Parties meetings on trying to control climate change have stalled because fossil fuel producing countries block any attempt to impose controls on these polluting products.rime Minister Carney said that progress on international issues will increasingly have to come from smaller groups of like-minded middle powers. He said countries need to develop more autonomy from big powers. What will this mean for sustainability? Mr. Carney called for strategic partnerships in general. We will have to see if partnerships emerge and if they have sustainability on the agenda or are simply about economic survival.