# Why We’re All Part of Sustainability's Elitism Problem.

1 Opinion January 26, 2026 Trellis ![Alison Taylor Article 230 x 260](/sites/default/files/styles/246w/public/assets/images/Alison%20Taylor%20Article%20230%20x%20260.png?itok=bqXNQmQV)By Alison Taylor

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Browse social media on any given day and you’ll notice a glaring disconnect. At a casual glance, the news reveals a polycrisis defined by geopolitical instability, growing inequality, environmental degradation and social polarization.

In response, corporations generate inspiring content, breathless invitations to bring your whole self to work and C-suite-bylined advertorials peppered with sustainability jargon but lacking in substance. Meanwhile, sustainability practitioners remain embroiled in esoteric debates over climate accounting or impact measurement, all suffused with a broad, inchoate rage against ‘the system’.

You can tell that sustainability is in trouble simply by the fact that numerous articles keep insistently telling us it’s alive and well. But I’m sure you, like us, have numerous examples (or personal experience) where sustainability is being quietly rebranded, shuffled to a less influential location on the organizational chart or quashed outright.

Read the full [*Trellis* article](https://trellis.net/article/why-were-all-part-of-sustainabilitys-elitism-problem/).

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*Alison Taylor is a Clinical Associate Professor at NYU Stern.*

## More from Alison Taylor

- [The Case For Ditching 5 Underlying Sustainability Assumptions.](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/experience-stern/faculty-research/case-ditching-5-underlying-sustainability-assumptions)
- [Beyond "Good" and "Bad": How to Measure Corporate Sustainability.](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/experience-stern/faculty-research/beyond-good-and-bad-how-measure-corporate-sustainability)
- [Is That Brand’s Mission For Real? Here’s How to Spot BS.](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/experience-stern/faculty-research/brands-mission-real-heres-how-spot-bs)
- [4 Leadership Tips to Start a Sustainability Career in 2025.](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/experience-stern/faculty-research/4-leadership-tips-start-sustainability-career-2025)
- [How Wall Street Wound Up the Last Bastion of Support For Diversity.](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/experience-stern/faculty-research/how-wall-street-wound-last-bastion-support-diversity)