As the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development ends, there will be celebrations and the inevitable reporting on activities and outcomes. Countless meetings, events, and sessions have occurred around the world. This opinion piece acknowledges three significant events or outcomes that are shaping the future of ESD within formal education on a global scale. For this author, the first major outcome was the UNESCO World Conference in Bonn (2009) where representatives from most influentially significant ministries of education discussed and planned the future of ESD. The second was the movement conceptually of ESD from the periphery to a core component of quality education. The third was the concept of ESD more as a purpose of education comprised of not only curriculum content but new approaches to pedagogy. In closing the determination of nations to launch the new Global Action Programme is a testimony of the success of the UNDESD.