The protocol from a sustainability perspective. The sustainability principles upon which the Protocol is founded include the critical concept of considering synergies and trade-offs between economic, social and environmental values
The balance between these trade-offs should be achieved and ensured in a transparent and accountable manner, taking advantage of expanding knowledge, multiple perspectives, and innovation
The approach of the Protocol can be considered a ‘hard sustainability’ approach as it calls for key natural and social assets, such as biodiversity or cultural heritage to be addressed, and not considered convertible to physical or financial capital vis-à-vis ‘soft sustainability’.