Sustainability, the long-term viability of a community, set of social institutions, or societal practice. In general, sustainability is understood as a form of intergenerational ethics in which the environmental and economic actions taken by present persons do not diminish the opportunities of future persons to enjoy similar levels of wealth, utility, or welfare.

'Sustainability' 2023, Britannica School, retrieved 16 February 2023, https://school.eb.com.au/levels/high/article/sustainability/601046.

Sustainability refers to the ability of any system to survive for a given period of time. In environmental science, that system is Earth, or more accurately, it is the biosphere. People often overlook the second component of sustainability: lasting for a finite period of time. Sustainability cannot last forever, because all systems in the universe progress toward entropy, a state of disorder that contains insufficient energy needed to do work.

Maczulak, A 2009, 'Sustainable Communities, Sustainability,' Facts On File, retrieved 16 February 2023, https://online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=18694&itemid=WE40&articleId=368895.