hi Alex here how do you ever played a game
without knowing what the goal was? how to win? well
to succeed in becoming sustainable we need to know the rules too
and what the conditions of success are what is checkmate
for sustainability research shows
that there are only a few key mechanisms that undermine
our capacity to survive and thrive on planet Earth
this translates into 4 scientifically robust conditions
that define sustainability at a principal level
and that have been peer reviewed and continuously refined over the last 20 years
there is no priority order to these principles
they're all equally important they're all necessary for true sustainability
and taken together sufficient to achieve it
since I've already explained the science behind these principles
in earlier videos I'm just going to explain their wording here
the first principle states
in a sustainable society nature is not subject to systematically
increasing concentrations up substances extracted from the earth's crust
one important word here is systematically
think about it as your email box
say that you get on average 15 emails per day and you have capacity to deal
with about 20
all is well but one day a colleague of yours takes a leave of absence
and you get his emails 15 more emails every day
for a total of 30 your capacity is still 20 emails per day
so every day you pile up 10 more unread emails
and the systematically accumulate so this first principal doesn't mean that we
cannot use
oil heavy metals or other substances from the earth's crust
it means that to be truly sustainable we cannot extract them
and build our society in such a way that they systematically accumulate in nature
over time
like your emails the second principle states
in a sustainable society nature is not subject to systematically
increasing concentrations of substances produced by society
the word substances here refers to chemicals and compounds
but nature has either never seen before like chlorofluorocarbons
also known as CFC or has only seen
in a relatively small amounts this doesn't mean that we cannot produce
substances in society
it means that to be truly sustainable we have to use substances that nature can
easily to break down so they won't systematically accumulate in natural systems
over time
and that we only release them into nature
at a rate at which nature can cope with them like the emails in your mailbox
the third principle states
in a sustainable society nature is not subject to systematically
increasing degradation by physical means this is about how we physically
alter nature by way of for example logging and fishing
this doesn't mean that we cannot use cut trees
or use other resources from nature we need them to survive
it means that to be truly sustainable we cannot systematically destroy
nature
at a rate faster than it regenerates it would be like
spending all the capital in your bank account instead of living
off your annual revenue instead
we have to use our natural resources without exceeding the capacity of the
planet to support life on Earth
the fourth principle deals with the social aspects of sustainability
it states in a sustainable society people are not subject to conditions
that systematically
undermine their capacity to meet their needs this doesn't mean that we have to meet
everybody's need all the time it means that
in order to be truly sustainable we cannot use manufacturing processes
suppliers and business models that create
ongoing barriers for people and make it systematically impossible for some of us
to meet our needs
such as using exotic mined metals in smartphones
which are now so valuable that civil war is being waged
in the Congo to control access to these materials we'll explore the concept
of human needs social systems and social sustainability more deeply
in future videos so here
are our 4 sustainability principles together
they defined checkmate for sustainability meaning that
if our product our business or our community
can truly achieve them then we have achieved minimum conditions for full
sustainability
did you notice that they are all phrased in the negative?
nature is NOT subject people are NOT subject
like in chess the King canNOT escape from capture
they're not prescriptive like
here is the list of the three thousand things you need to do to be sustainable
these conditions our boundaries
know the rules of the game as long as we pay within these rules
we can be as creative as we want and invent anything we like
this is exciting! you also noticed
that the wording a these conditions is very precise
this is the result of a scientific consensus
they're not designed for communication I will bring other videos for that
they are here to run in the background to make sure that we are rigorous
when analyzing our decisions and initiatives
against a robust framework they are
our North Star if you like helping us know where we are
and make sure that we are going in the right direction
how we are going to use these conditions of success to win the game of
sustainability will be the topic of another video
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