The elephant we refuse to name

By Professor Dato Dr Ahmad Ibrahim

The world is in a precarious state. We are very divided. There is still no end in sight for the Ukraine conflict. The atrocities in the Middle East are not getting any better. The latest is the attack on Iran by Israel. It is worrying. We also live in an era where sustainability has become the buzzword of governments, corporations, and international agencies. Every other policy document, business strategy, and university campaign today proudly carries the badge of “sustainability.” 

From climate action plans to ESG reporting, the language of responsibility is everywhere. And yet, the world remains on track for a 2.5°C to 3°C temperature rise. It is a disaster in the making. Biodiversity loss is accelerating. Social inequality is deepening. Food insecurity persists even in supposedly “modern” societies. Something doesn’t add up. The uncomfortable truth is this: we live in a hypocritical world. We say one thing, and do another. And this, I believe, is the greatest, and least addressed, challenge in our quest to deliver a sustainable future for humanity.

The culture of saying without doing is widespread. It is contagious. We also experience this here in Malaysia. How often have we seen leaders of the world pledge net-zero targets for 2050, while simultaneously approving new coal or oil projects? How many corporations tout their environmental credentials in glossy reports, only to quietly profit from unsustainable practices behind the scenes? Some call that green washing. Even ordinary citizens, myself included, are guilty of declaring our concern for the planet while living consumption-heavy, waste-generating lifestyles. 

It is this culture of hypocrisy, whether through negligence, political convenience, or corporate greenwashing, that stalls genuine progress. We attend conferences on sustainable development in five-star hotels, served on single-use plastic cutlery. We preach energy efficiency but insist the air-conditioning is on full blast. We debate carbon footprints while flying halfway across the world for meetings that could have been virtual. We champion local farmers while filling our supermarket trolleys with imported, over-packaged goods. The gap between what we claim to believe in, and how we actually behave, is staggering. It is blatant hypocrisy.

Why is hypocrisy the real threat? This hypocritical state matters because it breeds cynicism and inertia. When people see powerful institutions or public figures preaching sustainability but acting in contradiction, they lose faith in the process. Communities begin to see sustainability as yet another fashionable slogan of the elite, irrelevant to their lived realities. 

Moreover, hypocrisy distorts priorities. It allows policymakers to focus on symbolic gestures while ignoring root problems. It gives businesses a license to rebrand harmful practices as “green innovation.” And it perpetuates an illusion of progress, while real environmental and social crises intensify. We see such practices splashed on the television and reported on social media. There is no place to hide. 

What needs to change? If we are serious about delivering a sustainable future, the first battle is not against carbon emissions or plastic waste. It is against our own hypocrisy. We must first confront the double standards within our own homes, offices, and institutions. It means calling out policies that sound good but achieve little. It means holding corporations accountable beyond their public relations campaigns. It means governments making difficult, sometimes unpopular, decisions for the long-term good, rather than short-term gain. 

At a personal level, it’s about living with integrity, making small, consistent choices that align with the values we profess. None of us can be perfectly “green” in a world built on consumerism, but we can be honest about our limits and genuine in our efforts.

We need a more honest commitment to sustainability. What the world needs now is a sincere conversation about sustainability. One that acknowledges trade-offs, admits weaknesses, and resists the temptation to greenwash everything. A conversation that values substance over slogans. 

Because unless we reduce the culture of hypocrisy, our sustainability promises will remain hollow, and the desirable future we imagine for our children will remain painfully out of reach. It is time we stop pretending, and start confronting. But then again, change is difficult if hypocrisy is human nature.  

The author is affiliated with the Tan Sri Omar Centre for STI Policy Studies at UCSI University and is an associate fellow at the Ungku Aziz Centre for Development Studies, Universiti Malaya