Ideally it would be possible to calculate the economic 2nd and 3rd order effects of commercial activity in order to price in externalities.
In practice the example I like to use is soil loss. Farming isn't sustainable because the soil literally blows and washes away and cannot be regenerated. The solution is to have forest patches to reduce the wind speed and marshes to hold the rain. All of this takes valuable land which cannot be used 'productively' but is vital to make agriculture sustainable.
It’s lucky when you can get the sign right on the first-order effects. Predicting 2nd order effects accurately enough to price them is economic voodoo.
In practice the example I like to use is soil loss. Farming isn't sustainable because the soil literally blows and washes away and cannot be regenerated. The solution is to have forest patches to reduce the wind speed and marshes to hold the rain. All of this takes valuable land which cannot be used 'productively' but is vital to make agriculture sustainable.