Principles of ecologically sustainable development: a catchment cross-section is cleared while a chart reads the hillside through the precautionary principle, intergenerational equity and biodiversity conservation
ESD treats waiting for proof as a decision in itself, and the bill lands on the next generation
Australian law names the principles of ecologically sustainable development, and each one reads the same cleared hillside differently. Raise the share of the catchment cleared and watch the uncertainty band, the stock handed on and the species curve respond; then switch the principle to see which line each one is actually reading.
Clearing a catchment
40% cleared · precautionary
Raise the share cleared, then switch the principle. Watch which line each principle reads and where it says stop.
Which principle is reading the hillside?
Worst plausible case 70% of the irreversible threshold
Catchment cleared40%
0%25%50%75%100%
Vegetated catchment handed on
60%
Species retained (species-area, z = 0.25)
88%
Where the principle shows up
Know This
ESD rests on three named tests: the precautionary principle acts before certainty, intergenerational equity protects the stock handed on, and biodiversity conservation keeps species and ecological integrity.