'Net positive', from Positive Development (PD) theory, is a paradigm in sustainable development and design. PD theory was first detailed in Positive Development (2008). A net positive system/structure would ‘give back to nature and society more than it takes’ over its life cycle. In contrast, sustainable development—in the real-world context of population growth, biodiversity loss, cumulative pollution, wealth disparities and social inequities—closes off future options. To reverse direction, development must, among other sustainability criteria, increase nature beyond pre-human conditions.