This article is based upon a longer concept paper commissioned by UNESCO in preparation for the World Conference on ESD, and entitled "Winning the Future We Want--the pivotal role of education and learning". Neither this article nor the original paper necessarily represents UNESCO'S views. The brief for this paper was to make a strong case for education for sustainable development (ESD) as a critically important means of realizing sustainable development goals and was based upon UNESCO's analysis that the sustainable development discourse--including high-level reports associated with the post-2015 agenda--largely does not recognize the central role that learning and education must play in supporting individual and social change. The commissioned paper therefore covers a broad sweep including the place and role of education and learning in the context of the need for urgent social change; an outline of relevant ESD theory including learning strategies; a desk-based critical review of the post-2015 debate; and an outline of the role of ESD as a key to sustainable development. This article is a shortened and updated version of the paper.