Many organizations have sought to establish operating principles that could guide development on to a more sustainable pathway.

PRINCIPLES FROM AGENCIES OR GROUPS

• Bellagio Principles
• Canadian International Development Agency's Framework for Sustainable Development
• Caring for the Earth: A Strategy for Sustainable Living
• Changing Course
• Defining a Sustainable Society
• Guideposts for a Sustainable Future
• Ontario Round Table on Environment and Economy
• The Natural Step: The Four System Conditions
• United Nations Conference on Environment and Development

PRINCIPLES BY SECTOR

• Agriculture
• Economics
• Forestry
• Transportation
• Water

PRINCIPLES BY THEME

The following themes occur in a number of sets of principles:

• Alternative energy sources
• Assumption of greater responsibility by industrial nations for sustainability solutions
• Clarifying and acting on values
• Diversity of life
• Elimination of over-consumption
• Eradication of poverty
• Gender equity
• Greater democratic participation in decision-making
• Increased access to reliable information
• International cooperation/global partnership
• Limits to nature's resources
• Needs of future generations
• Peace and security
• Precautionary principle

What is Sustainability