Recent Sustainability Research: Evolving Threats and Adaptive Language

The impact of climate change is hitting the global community hard. From heatwaves and floods to devastating storms and sea-level rise, the catastrophe of climate-driven weather has arrived.

Yet climate change is not the only threat keeping us up at night. Geopolitical tensions and economic fragility are playing their part in keeping policymakers busy and making the rest of us nervous about the future.

Three recent research reports show how sustainability researchers are jockeying for attention in a world with more than enough things to worry about. Each of the reports shows how the discourse of sustainability has adapted to reframe the natural world as more than just an end unto itself but as part of a complex social and economic system that depends upon the stability of each part to survive and thrive.

Cradle to Grave: The Ongoing Health Impact of Fossil Fuels

The Global Climate & Health Alliance released the Cradle to Grave: The Health Toll of Fossil Fuels and the Imperative for a Just Transition report on September 16, 2025. It examined the impact of fossil fuel extraction, consumption, and disposal on human health from pregnancy to retirement.

The report found that fossil fuels have significant impacts on human health at every stage of their development. Extraction, refining, transport, storage, combustion, and disposal all introduce dangerous pollutants into different ecosystems as they each take place in diverse locations. Extraction, for example, releases benzene, heavy metals, and particulates that contribute to cancers, respiratory disease, and neurological disorders in nearby populations. Combustion in power plants, vehicles, or for home energy releases particulate matter (PM) 2.5 and nitrogen oxides that can contribute to heart disease, cancer, and dementia.

Even after fossil fuels have been consumed, their health impacts can persist as post-consumption waste, and legacy pollution from abandoned fossil fuel sites can continue to degrade the environment and contribute to chronic disease for decades.

In a press release, report author and campaign lead at the Global Climate & Health Alliance Shweta Narayan noted that the long-term impacts of fossil fuels on the environment and human health impose a particularly heavy burden on marginalized communities that are less resilient and have fewer resources. This includes Indigenous groups, racial minorities, and low-income communities that are often located near fossil fuel infrastructure in areas researchers refer to as “sacrifice zones.”