Manifesto

Executive Summary
(Section Summary)

Stable, global economic activity is directly dependent upon the state of human and natural resources in our world today. And over the last few decades people and institutions have come to better understand that society’s collective demand on resources is becoming greater than the productive capacity of the Earth. Our consumption of resources and waste production is clearly unsustainable, with dire consequences for our way of life if not addressed. And the consequences for future generations are sobering. The interdependencies in our world require new ways of thinking about things and taking action that will truly create a healthy future where society and nature coexist with mutual benefit, and where the suffering caused by poverty and natural resource abuse is eliminated. One potential solution to global socio-economic and/or environmental decline can be found in the application of sustainable development. The concept of sustainable development is much more than environmental protection in disguise. It offers a multi-dimensional way of thinking about the interdependencies in our world while helping humanity to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Application of an iterative sustainability assessment protocol, based upon a sound foundation of basic understanding for what sustainability represents, can help to build a transparent, defensible basis for decision-making.

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