1.3.2—Three pillars of sustainability
- Syllabus
- First assessment 2026
- Objective
- 1.3.2
- Level
- HL
Strong Sustainability Shows Dependence
Weak sustainability treats environmental, social and economic pillars as partly substitutable; strong sustainability nests society and economy inside a functioning environment.
Use the model to expose assumptions about trade-offs. Strong sustainability says some ecological functions cannot simply be replaced by money or technology.
A road may raise income, but a strong model asks whether the ecological system that supports water and health remains viable.
The nested strong model; overlapping circles suggest more substitution.
Three pillars are not automatically independent or interchangeable.