I will take the risk of presenting the main forces that drive my comprehension of what is sustainability.

The literal meaning
A desirable first step for this reflection is the isolation of the word. Something sustainable is something that lasts for a long period, perhaps eternally. This enunciation generates, almost automatically, an interrogation: what is this objects that remains intact?
Some would say that it is Mother Earth who deserves all the concern from all its inhabitants, but I humbly believe it is all about humankind. We only exist in the last fraction of the history of this planet.

Ethics
Assuming that the question is merely human, it is natural to consider the individual conducts that lead (or hinder) the success of our species. That is the role of morality.
A particularly important concept in the relation between ethics and sustainability is utilitarism, since sustainability depends on the impact of human actions on the individual well being (utility).

Sustainable Development
The notion of sustainable development is fundamental to the recent conceptions of actions designed to ensure the permanence of humanity on Earth. A definition that appeared in 1987, by the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development, is often quoted:

Sustainable Development is the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

International forums have also originated the three pillars of sustainable development: economic, social and environmental. Valuable solutions were conceived from that demarcation, like the idea of triple bottom line, the measurement of organizational performance through the three pillars.

I would include, as a pillar of sustainability, the cultural dimension of sustainable development, as presented by the Polish-French economist Ignacy Sachs.

The decline of civilization
An essential source for the comprehension of sustainability is Lester Brown’s Plan B (available online).
The first half of the book addresses the major problems of the present civilization, especially those caused by climate change and scarcity of natural resources. A symbolic example is the increasing number of environmental refugees, due to falling water tables, floods and desert expansion. The pressures generated by these issues overpass the social aspects and arrive to the political, causing the weakening of states and the decline of life quality in many parts of the planet.
The second part of the texts concerns the solutions to our challenges. Topics like poverty eradication, promotion of renewable energy and food security are addressed in a concrete and consistent way.

Contribute to such solutions and mostly to the necessary evolution of sociocultural paradigms. That is my mission. I trust the richness of this debate and the relevance of the development of all concepts I presented as a condition for the emergence of a positive scenario for humanity, with fewer wars, tragedies and suffering.

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This text was originally written in Portuguese.