Guiding Principles

1. The economy's place in the global environment: The human economy, which people have traditionally considered independent of the natural Earth system, is actually embedded within, and dependent upon, this global environment. We emphasize this fact as global population and economic growth stretch the ability of the environment to provide the raw materials, energy, waste absorption, and other ecosystem services critical to life on Earth. Recognizing these facts, we will improve upon traditional market measures, like GDP and corporate profit, by accurately incorporating natural, social and human capital in true profit.

2. Goals for the global economy: We promote a broader set of goals for the human economy in which corporations play an important role. In addition to the traditional economic goal of (1) efficient resource allocation, we emphasize the need for goals to achieve (2) a fair distribution of resources within present and future generations, and (3) a sustainable scale for the human economy. Fair distribution and sustainable scale must come before the goal of economic efficiency. Efficiency pursued alone often leads to severe degradation of natural, social, and human capital.

3. The importance of all capital types: Natural, social, human, and built capital each contribute to human well-being. Natural capital provides the foundation for human economy; the environment is not a “luxury good,” but instead is a basic human right and necessity for human well-being. We believe that every human is obligated to enhance global capital and deserves fair returns from such capital; every human institution should recognize the true profit generated by these four capital types.

4. Roles and responsibilities of the corporation: We acknowledge that the modern corporation’s principle legal obligation is to maximize economic return to shareholders. Many corporations do so by sacrificing the social and natural capital of their communities, adversely affecting stakeholders who may not hold traditional economic shares in that corporation. Some corporations do commit to social and environmental performance under “Corporate Social Responsibility” or “Triple Bottom Line” initiatives. Recent polls show that the public overwhelmingly agrees that corporations owe something to their workers and the communities in which they operate. We recognize that sound, sustainable corporate governance requires integrated accounting of all four capital types. Responsible corporations must provide stakeholders with complete and transparent information about their performance in use of all capital types. We seek to empower local stakeholders to demand improved corporate and government performance and greater accountability surrounding corporate activities.

5. The importance of the business community: We respect the role of business in providing for human needs and economic development, in promoting innovation, and in providing a fair reward to private investment. To promote sustainable, just, efficient business practices, the global community must develop new and innovative institutions, alliances of businesses acting in the public interest, and acceptable practices for all governments and businesses.

6. Communication and accountability: Our responsibility is to inform you, the stakeholders of Earth, Inc., about the current status of human and environmental assets and liabilities. Improving the information available to all people will increase accountability in government, businesses, and individually, spurring action required to improve assets for our future well-being. Indicators used to measure these assets will be the result of research and cooperation among all institutions interested in providing accurate valuation for natural, social and human capital.

7. Participation and alliances: Earth, Inc.’s bottom line is globally sustainable human well-being, achievable by giving all peoples a voice and opportunity to participate in decisions influencing Earth’s capital. We will do this by building bridges and networking with established forums like the UN and through cooperation with organizations that operate in specific regions on Earth. We will encourage all stakeholders to take advantage of these forums to facilitate action. We seek to catalyze global commitment to enhancing newly-recognized true profit. We set a goal of increasing participation on a global scale, fairly representing the diversity of Earth’s population, and striving to reflect its national, ethnic, religious, and cultural diversity, while recognizing the challenges associated with this goal.

Earth, Inc. does not seek to duplicate or compete with existing institutions working toward shared goals, but will form strategic alliances with these organizations to increase our mutual effectiveness.

8. Earth Shareholder's Report: We will clearly assess and describe the global asset base, emphasizing that all four forms of capital are essential to sustainable human well-being. The balance sheet and profit and loss statement will include the assets and flows of all four capital types to show overall gain or loss of assets as positive or negative. For example, built and human capital may increase, while natural and social capital may decline. By evaluating all four capital types, we can make a better determination of overall human well-being, and identify the necessary bottom line. We will create an annual Shareholder’s Report and make it available to every stakeholder of Earth, Inc. It will also detail the assets provided by Earth and assess the continued status of those assets, and identify institutions that have major influences on the global capital in both positive and negative ways.

9.Promoting governance for sustainable and effective resource use: We support the Lisbon Principles for sustainable governance and resource management of common assets. Natural resource use should: 1) be fair and responsible; 2) have management of appropriate space and time scales; 3) include the precautionary principle, erring on the side of caution in the face of uncertainty; 4) apply adaptive management as conditions change and new information comes to light; 5) account for full environmental and social costs in market prices; 6) be inclusive of all stakeholders by providing opportunities for participation.