Sustainable development is synonymous in the minds of many with the colour green.  While the greening of development is imperative, the social and economic strands of sustainable development are equally vital.  Sustainable development is about health, education, women’s empowerment, and jobs, as much as ecosystems.  It is about ever widening inclusion and movement away from decisions that erode democratic space and breed social inequality, intolerance, and violence.

‘Triple-win’ policies and programming are the future.  The key to accelerating progress towards sustainable development is expanding ‘triple win’ policies and programming that intertwine the economic, social, and environmental strands of sustainable development.

In this time of multiple crises it is tempting to focus on the ‘short term fix’.  But what we need is to reset the global development agenda.