Sustainability: a limping tripod. OPINION October 8, 2025.

A tripod on a table, AI-generated

Sustainability: a limping tripod.

The sustainability discourse is usually based on three pillars, according to the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) theory: economic, social, and environmental. This model has shaped public policies, corporate reports, and global debates in recent decades.

The TBL has taught us that there is no development or sustainability without balancing people, planet, and profit. But if half the population's psychological health is compromised by structures of inequality, the social pillar crumbles. And with it, the entire promise of sustainable balance.

In September, the Nativas Network – Women in Ecological Restoration, a non-profit association focused on gender equality, is organizing an event to discuss female overload, exhaustion, and burnout, with a lecture by a psychologist specializing in occupational health and mediated by an organizational psychologist, both with experience in clinical practice.

Curious as I am, I enjoyed the event as an organizer and participated behind the scenes, and I came across alarming data:

1) Pre-pandemic, 49 million people lived with some kind of psychological disorder in Brazil, and more than half (53%) were women. That is, for every 100 Brazilian women, 19 had some type of disorder, higher than the global rate of 13.3 per 100 women.¹

2) Women represented almost two-thirds (67%) of people with anxiety and depression disorders, while men were mostly affected by substance use disorders (drugs and others).¹

3) Women account for the majority of absences due to mental disorders and burnout cases in Brazil.²

4) Among the causes of illness, financial situation stands out, ranging from food insecurity, financial dependence, or financial constraints. The highest percentage of dissatisfaction with financial structure is distributed among Black women. ¹

5) Overload and exhaustion also appear as factors, as women dedicate, on average, 10 hours more per week than men to household chores, accumulating double or triple shifts.¹-³

Being confronted with this data left me feeling uneasy: Is it possible to live in an era of sustainability while society is being constituted and structured to embrace women? Shouldn't we, cis and trans women, be included in the "S" of the triple bottom line of sustainability?

The UN 2030 Agenda included, in SDG 3, the psychological dimension as a central part of sustainable development. Brazil, upon internalizing the goals, reinforced worker health as a priority by considering burnout an occupational disease and suicide prevention, with prevention campaigns taking place in September. Yet, when we look at sustainability policies and practices, we see that the debate on psychological health falls short of what it should be, and that women's psychological health remains invisible, even though it is crucial for the future of work and social equity.

Corporate debate rarely incorporates gender perspectives, despite data showing that women are the most affected. This reveals a paradox: companies talk about diversity and inclusion, but fail to guarantee the minimum psychological conditions for women to participate on equal terms—and this includes infrastructure such as breastfeeding spaces and daycare centers.

A sustainability that fails to incorporate the dialogue on psychological health and fails to address the gender gap is merely rhetoric. The sustainability we need to consider questions and transform the structures that make women ill, whether in public policy, in the corporate environment, or in the comfort of their own homes. Without this, the three pillars of sustainability remain limping. The question that remains is: how long will we accept balancing the future on a crutch that sickens a large portion of the population?

¹ - Think Olga. (2023). Exhausted: Impoverishment, Caregiving Overload, and Women's Psychological Suffering. Think Olga Laboratory – Exercises for the Future.

² - TRAVIS, Michelle. Why Does Burnout Affect Women More? Forbes Brazil, April 2, 2025. Available at: https://forbes.com.br/carreira/2025/04/por-que-o-burnout-afeta-mais-as-mulheres/. Accessed: 30 sets. 2025.

³ - BRAZIL. Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). In 2022, women dedicated 9.6 hours per week more than men to household chores or caregiving. IBGE News Agency, 11 days ago. 2023. Available at: https://agenciadenoticias.ibge.gov.br/agencia-noticias/2012-agencia-de-noticias/noticias/37621-em-2022-mulheres-dedicaram-96-horas-por-semana-a-mais-do-que-os-homens-aos-afazeres-domesticos-ou-ao-cuidado-de-pessoas. Accessed on: September 30, 2025.

SDG3 SDG 5

Ana Letícia de Rodrigues Ferro

Forestry Engineer (FCA/UNESP Botucatu)

Ecology Specialist (FAMEESP)

Environmental Analyst (Irrigart Engineering and Construction)