‘Frankly, when I first saw the title of the EU’s recent proposal for a Recommendation on learning for environmental sustainability, I wondered: “Why focus on environmental sustainability – isn’t that missing the point of sustainability?” Sustainability cannot be achieved by only looking at the environment, the economy, society or culture: we need to consider all these dimensions and how they interact.’ Professor Arjen Wals outlines the transformation that education should undergo to deal with the planet’s existential threats.