Our Story

A simple idea. An enormous opportunity.

In the late 1980’s, Dr. Karl-Henrik Robèrt, a Swedish oncologist, was treating a lot of children with cancer. He couldn’t help but notice how their families, care providers and the community came together quickly and efficiently with compassion and coordinated resources to try and make a difference. This was in stark contrast to the emerging confusion and debate over the health of the planet.

While examining cells from one of his cancer patients under the microscope, Dr. Robèrt was struck with a very simple, but very powerful idea. What if we could get agreement on a basic understanding of cells - and therefore a basic understanding of the requirements for the continuation of life? If there could be agreement on the basics, we could build consensus among governments, business people and environmentalists about the state of the planet.

Dr. Robèrt started developing a framework outlining the conditions that are considered essential for life. He sent this draft to a broad cross-section of scientists, including over 50 ecologists, chemists, physicists and medical doctors around the world and asked for their input. Twenty-one drafts later, there was at last consensus about what we is needed to sustain life on earth. With the support of His Majesty the King of Sweden, Karl XVI Gustav, this ‘consensus document’ and accompanying audio tape was sent to every household and school in Sweden.

The Natural Step was born.

A few years later, in the early 1990s, Dr. Robèrt worked with a noted physicist, Dr John Holmberg, to define a set of guiding sustainability principles based on the laws of thermodynamics and natural cycles. This underlying science is the foundation of The Natural Step Framework.

Over the years, Dr. Robèrt has continued to work with a growing number of international scientists and practitioners in all kinds of organizations and we have developed The Natural Step Framework for strategic decision making, creating a clear definition of sustainability while reducing financial risk and supporting design and innovation within organizations.

The Natural Step Framework has taken people beyond the arguments of what is and is not possible; of what may be left or right wing. Instead, the TNS Framework builds on a basic understanding of what makes life possible, how our biosphere functions and how we are part of the earth’s natural systems. Rather than get lost in abstract definitions and causes, it builds on a platform of basic science. After all, if you want to achieve ‘success’, you have to first understand what this means in real terms before you can then take strategic steps to achieve it.

The Natural Step has helped thousands of corporations and communities, educational facilities and governments develop blueprints toward sustainability. The Natural Step now has offices in 11 countries around the world.