Ecologically sustainable development is the environmental component of sustainable development. It can be achieved partially through the use of the precautionary principle, namely that if there are threats of serious or irreversible environmental damage, lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing measures to prevent environmental degradation. Also important is the principle of intergenerational equity, namely that the present generation should ensure that the health, diversity and productivity of the environment is maintained or enhanced for the benefit of future generations; the conservation of biological diversity and ecological integrity; and improved valuation, pricing and incentive mechanisms, namely that environmental factors should be included in the valuation of assets and services.