Sustainability and the common good are emergent properties of the balance between human society and Nature. In ecological terms, sustainability is equivalent to perennity—the ability of a system to endure over time. This is the essential function of biological systems, which have managed to sustain life on Earth for approximately 3.9 billion years. For this reason, it can be said that Nature is the only truly sustainable system known to humanity (“la Naturaleza es el único sistema verdaderamente sostenible que conoce la humanidad”).
1. Sustainability as a Result of Cooperation
In biological systems, sustainability arises primarily from cooperation, which acts as the mechanism that enables the continuity of life. Competition also exists, but it is subordinated to the common good of the biological community. When species compete for resources, the outcome is not destruction but speciation, diversification, and the creation of new niches. This increases complexity and strengthens collective resilience.
In summary: Cooperation + regulated competition = greater adaptive capacity of living systems.
2. Sustainability Is an Exclusive Attribute of Nature
No human‑created system is sustainable in the strict sense. Sustainability requires total autonomy, something only Nature possesses.
For this reason, the traditional definition of sustainability—such as that of the Brundtland Commission (1987)—is anthropocentric and anti‑ecological, as it focuses solely on the permanence of humanity and its needs. This utilitarian view of Nature ignores the right of other species to exist and endure.
3. Society and the “Society–Nature System”
A system is a set of elements that cooperate to fulfill a common function. Under this definition, the current relationship between society and Nature does not constitute a system, because:
- Society degrades Nature.
- This degradation collapses Nature’s regulatory function over environmental variability.
- That collapse produces social catastrophes.
In other words: there is no system—only a dysfunctional interaction.
The only viable path for development is for society to learn to function as an integrated Society–Nature system, adopting the principles that make biological systems perennial. Until this happens, society will continue acting as a parasitic element, not as a synergistic component of a larger whole.
4. What Is Nature?
Nature can be understood as the set of geographical spaces and their environments, shaped and transformed by living beings. Its purpose is not to satisfy human needs—an idea rooted in certain religious interpretations—but to control environmental variability in order to ensure the continuity of life.
Conclusion
Sustainability is not a political objective or an institutional slogan. It is an ecological property that emerges only when social dynamics align with natural dynamics.
For human society to endure, it must:
- understand the principles that make Nature sustainable,
- integrate itself functionally with those principles,
- and orient its development toward the biological‑human common good.
Only then can a true Society–Nature System exist.