SUSTAINABILITY AND RESILIENCE
Sustainability in Transition: From Ideals to Implementation
Rachel A. Meidl, L.P.D., CHMM Fellow in Energy and Sustainability | CES Deputy Director
Introduction Sustainability has undergone significant shifts, shaped by market forces, policy evolution, and social expectations. In 2025, sustainability stands at an inflection point. Once a visionary goal of harmonizing environmental, social, and economic imperatives, it is now mired in politicization, fragmented metrics, and superficial accountability. As energy and material systems make progress toward decarbonization, a more grounded, representative systems-based sustainability framework becomes essential. This brief explores how decision-makers can recalibrate their understanding of sustainability to reflect life cycle realities, global supply chain dependencies, and the tradeoffs shaping energy, materials, and economic futures. With vacillating policy and market conditions, a reevaluation of the metrics, methods, and misconceptions currently dominating the sustainability discourse and decision-making is needed.
Energy Insights 2025
196