Abstract
Sustainability science is an important discipline for humankind in the 21st century, and progress has been made since around 2000. With a perspective that environmental policy has been changing with renewed visions since 2015, we argue for development of sustainability science that meets the needs of such epochal changes. After revisiting the trends in science and the progress in conceptual studies of sustainability, we considered the prospects of sustainability science in the era of the Anthropocene from three viewpoints: understanding the complex human–global environment system and its recognition as a society, reconstruction of social goals and intergenerational succession, and system transition. We finally reached 11 issues, including the following. Studies to understand complex human-global environmental systems comprehensively have increased, but sustainability issues are not necessarily covered. Transdisciplinary perspectives are needed, especially in reconstructing social goals and sustainability criteria. Research on happiness has progressed, but additional studies are needed to replace GDP as a social goal. Intergenerational issues have received greater attention, but many research topics remain. System transition requires an approach different from the conventional environmental policy approach.
