The four rules that form the basis for ‘authentic’ sustainability

Here’s a note from Bob Leonard about this article entitled “This Pioneering Economist Says Our Obsession With Growth Must End”:

We measure well-being with growth in GDP as the only metric. Herman Daly favors a steady-state economy, one that forgoes the insatiable and environmentally destructive hunger for growth, recognizes the physical limitations of our planet and instead seeks a sustainable economic and ecological equilibrium. Let’s make humanity’s well-being and the well-being of our natural world our metrics.

Some good comments on Bob’s post including this one from Mark McElroy:

In addition to Daly’s three rules of sustainability for impacts on natural capitals, I’ve always held to a fourth rule of my own which reads as follows: The rate at which anthropogenic capitals are produced and maintained should not fall below the rate at which their goods or services are required for human well-being.

These four rules neatly sum up the thinking behind context-based sustainability, the combination of which constitutes the basis of ‘authentic’ sustainability — truly thresholds-based on all fronts.