Abstract
A set of newly defined environmental principles can advance the sustainability performance of economic frameworks such as industrial ecology, cradle-to-cradle, and the circular economy. Currently, the environmental sustainability of these frameworks is mainly derived from the application of efficiency principles such as waste reduction, or closing and narrowing production, and consumption loops. However, these same principles can bring, in some cases, unintended outcomes that are detrimental to the environment. Efficiency principles also fall short of environmental sustainability aspirations, doing little to contribute to addressing the causes of current global environmental crises. This paper examines 7 widely applicable principles aimed at explicit environmental sustainability: doing no harm to nature, minimising environmental damage, restoring/remediating environmental damage, net-positive impact, no net loss, maintaining the health of ecosystems, and continual environmental improvement. These principles could markedly improve efforts to actively pursue sustainability and foster new economic forms that address our current unsustainable trajectories.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 2165-2171 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Sustainability Science |
Volume | 17 |
Issue number | 5 |
Early online date | 22 Aug 2022 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Sept 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:I am grateful to Genevieve Quirk, Arthur Rempel, Richard Norgaard and Sarah Clement for their comments and suggestions. Naturally, any remaining errors are my own. Finally, I thank Trevor Zink and Roland Geyer, to whom in early 2020 I proposed to cowrite the paper; this purpose faded away because of the pandemic and other circumstances. Ciao papà.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).
Keywords
- Environmental principles
- Industrial ecology and circular economy
- Rebound effects
- Net positive impact and no net loss
- Morality vs greenwashing
- Sustainable economy
VU Research Profile
- Science for Sustainability