Sustainability has become a mainstream global priority—but its rise has triggered a political and economic backlash. Although climate and social risks are now widely recognised, delivery has fallen far short of expectations, eroding public trust and creating space for actors who “short” sustainability by exploiting uncertainty, polarisation, and weak implementation. Internal flaws—such as ESG overreach, excessive siloing, and performative rather than practical action—have further undermined credibility. This chapter makes the case for rebuilding a social licence for sustainability grounded in economic realism, local relevance, and genuine stakeholder engagement. It challenges the reader to accept that sustainability is now an orthodoxy, whether we like it or not, and that the current pushback is partly self-inflicted by own unreadiness to take the full responsibility of implementation. It introduces the book’s central idea of “bedrock sustainability”: an operational, outcomes-driven approach that embeds sustainability in investment, technology, value chains, and corporate decision-making, enabling governments and businesses to deliver durable, system-level impact. Put another way, the chapter makes the case for the ‘sustainability of sustainability’.