There is little substance in discourses of sustainable development, unless they are sustained by a credible notion of responsibility. My paper is motivated by a dire state of affairs, the ubiquitous failure of governance, and, more generally, the proliferation of widespread non sustainable and irresponsible practices. Consequently, my project is to develop a grounded understanding of responsibility, and to seek out the particular conditions necessary for responsible conduct, one liable to underpin socially sustainable development in practice.