Principles For Sustainability

In his book (The Necessary Revolution: How Individuals and Organizations are Working to Create a Sustainable World (2008)), systems-thinking guru and author Peter Senge came up with the following principles, also known as "conditions" that must be met in order to have a sustainable society:

1. Substances extracted from the earth's crust cannot systematically increase in nature (e.g., fossil-based emissions).
2. Substances produced in society cannot systemically increase by nature(e.g., greenhouse gases).
3. The physical basis for the productivity and diversity of nature must not be systematically deteriorated (e.g., deforestation, loss of topsoil).
4. People are not subject to conditions that systematically undermine their capacity to meet their needs (e.g., lack of access to education or clean water).