Sustainability Principles

In the sustainability arena 'principles' is an over-used word so this post is to clarify what I mean when I talk about sustainability principles.

I use the term to refer to basic principles for socio-ecological sustainability as defined by The Natural Step (see here). The four TNS principles (sometimes called 'system conditions') spell out the basic mechanisms by which our society is being unsustainable. They are based on science and have been peer-reviewed in international scientific journals.

These sustainability principles are an essential part of the Strategic Sustainable Development approach since they help define the minimum requirements of a sustainable future (i.e. the goal of sustainable development) without prescribing exactly what that future will be.

This distinction is important since too often we run into disagreements over details of sustainable development even though the need for it is clear. If we can agree on sustainability at a principle level, we can then allow it to emerge in different forms by using the principles to guide us.