Consumption, Population, and Sustainability
Consumption, Population, and Sustainability

Author: Audrey Chapman

Publisher:

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 376

ISBN-13:

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The combined contributions of science and religion to resolving environmental problems are far greater than each could offer working in isolation. Scientific findings are central to understanding the impact of human populations on the environment, but a more ecologically sustainable future will require radical changes in values, lifestyle choices, and consumption patterns -- a revolution that falls squarely within the domain of the religious community. Consumption, Population, and Sustainability is an outgrowth of a conference sponsored jointly by the Boston Theological Institute and the American Association for the Advancement of Science that brought together more than 250 scientists and people of religious faith to discuss the environmental impact of consumption patterns and population trends, and to consider alternative and more equitable value systems, economic arrangements, and technologies that will be necessary for achieving a more sustainable future. The book: provides a brief history of the dialogue between science and religion on environmental issues outlines potential contributions of the religious community to the debate about global sustainability offers a science-based assessment of issues such as carrying capacity, sustainability indicators, and the environmental impacts of consumer-based lifestyles considers religious and theological perspectives on consumption and population from a variety of viewpoints including Roman Catholic, Jewish, Greek Orthodox, and Islamic examines the ethical and policy dimensions of reorienting today's consumer society to one more focused on values, spiritual growth, and relationships. Both the scientific and religious communities can make important contributions to understanding and responding to the impact of population growth and consumption patterns on environmental sustainability. This volume represents a significant step in establishing an ongoing dialogue between the communities, and provides a thought-provoking overview of the issues for scientists, theologians, and anyone concerned with the future of global sustainability.

Can Earth's and Society's Systems Meet the Needs of 10 Billion People?
Can Earth's and Society's Systems Meet the Needs of 10 Billion People?

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2014-08-07

Total Pages: 137

ISBN-13: 030930637X

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The Earth's population, currently 7.2 billion, is expected to rise at a rapid rate over the next 40 years. Current projections state that the Earth will need to support 9.6 billion people by the year 2050, a figure that climbs to nearly 11 billion by the year 2100. At the same time, most people envision a future Earth with a greater average standard of living than we currently have - and, as a result, greater consumption of our planetary resources. How do we prepare our planet for a future population of 10 billion? How can this population growth be achieved in a manner that is sustainable from an economic, social, and environmental perspective? Can Earth's and Society's Systems Meet the Needs of 10 Billion People? is the summary of a multi-disciplinary workshop convened by the National Academies in October 2013 to explore how to increase the world's population to 10 billion in a sustainable way while simultaneously increasing the well-being and standard of living for that population. This report examines key issues in the science of sustainability that are related to overall human population size, population growth, aging populations, migration toward cities, differential consumption, and land use change, by different subpopulations, as viewed through the lenses of both social and natural science.

Sustainable Consumption and Production, Volume I
Sustainable Consumption and Production, Volume I

Author: Ranjula Bali Swain

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2021-03-19

Total Pages: 463

ISBN-13: 3030563715

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Economic growth and increasing population impose long-term risks to the environment and society. Approaches to address the impact of consumption and production on bio-diversity loss, resource availability, climate change, and mounting waste problems on land and in seas have yet not proven to be successful. This calls for innovative approaches to address the complex environmental, social, and economic interrelationships that have to be addressed in transforming to sustainable development. Sustainable Consumption and Production, Volume I: Challenges and Development aims to explore critical global challenges and addresses how consumers, producers, the private sector, international organizations, and governments can play an active role in innovating businesses to support a transitioning towards sustainable consumption and production. The book explores different approaches and innovations to address sustainable consumption and production. It details multiple social and economic contexts to the challenges and developments towards a sustainable consumption and production. The book is of interest to economists, students, businesses, and policymakers. Chapter 14 and chapter 15 are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

Population, Consumption, and the Environment
Population, Consumption, and the Environment

Author: Harold Coward

Publisher: State University of New York Press

Published: 1995-11-16

Total Pages: 332

ISBN-13: 0791499936

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This book concentrates on the different ways in which the major world religions view the problems of overpopulation and excess resource consumption and how they approach possible solutions. After examining the natural background and the human context, the book moves on to consider both religious and secular approaches. It analyzes how a particular religion's scriptures comment on the nature of people, the environment, people's place in the environment, and their roles and responsibilities. The historical dimension is derived from reviewing a particular religion's record in teaching about these issues, often demonstrating how broader issues are addressed. Practical lessons are learned from religious guidelines that deal with current problems and offer solutions. The authors consider Aboriginal spirituality, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Chinese religions. The secular approaches include secular ethics, North-South relations, market forces, the status of women, and international law.

Sustainable Consumption and the Good Life
Sustainable Consumption and the Good Life

Author: Karen Lykke Syse

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2014-11-20

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13: 1317747798

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What does it mean to live a good life in a time when the planet is overheating, the human population continues to steadily reach new peaks, oceans are turning more acidic, and fertile soils the world over are eroding at unprecedented rates? These and other simultaneous harms and threats demand creative responses at several levels of consideration and action. Written by an international team of contributors, this book examines in-depth the relationship between sustainability and the good life. Drawing on wealth of theories, from social practice theory to architecture and design theory, and disciplines, such as anthropology and environmental philosophy, this volume promotes participatory action-research based approaches to encourage sustainability and wellbeing at local levels. It covers topical issues such the politics of prosperity, globalization, and indigenous notions of "the good life" and happiness". Finally it places a strong emphasis on food at the heart of the sustainability and good life debate, for instance binding the global south to the north through import and exports, or linking everyday lives to ideals within the dream of the good life, with cookbooks and shows. This interdisciplinary book provides invaluable insights for researchers and postgraduate students interested in the contribution of the environmental humanities to the sustainability debate.

Population and Strategies for National Sustainable Development
Population and Strategies for National Sustainable Development

Author: Gayl D Ness

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-07-26

Total Pages: 302

ISBN-13: 1000151840

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The guide serves as a resource for national-level policy makers and the staff of conservation organizations who wish to integrate population and environmental conditions in planning for sustainable development. It presents the basic rationale for linking population and environmental issues, including the demonstrable impact that growth in population and consumption is having on the environment. At the same time, it acknowledges the difficulty of achieving integration due to long-entrenched disciplinary and institutional specialization. The guide refrains from making blanket prescriptions, but rather emphasizes that policy and planning responses must be attuned to the location-specific nature of population-environment interactions. A number of mechanisms for achieving integration are presented, including placement of demographers within national planning organizations, or creation of country-based networks of population and conservation professionals who meet regularly to share knowledge and experience. For those less familiar with previous research, the book includes a primer on demographic change and models and frameworks for understanding the links between population dynamics (births, deaths, growth, migration) and environmental change. Originally published in 1996

The Third Revolution
The Third Revolution

Author: Paul Harrison

Publisher: Penguin Group

Published: 1993

Total Pages: 420

ISBN-13:

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A renowned writer on the environment shows how population growth, rising consumption, and damaging technologies have combined to create the biggest environmental crisis in human history, spurring agricultural and industrial revolutions and perhaps speeding up the third revolution--the transition to sustainable development.

Population Growth, Resource Consumption, and the Environment
Population Growth, Resource Consumption, and the Environment

Author: Rick Searle

Publisher: Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press

Published: 2006-01-01

Total Pages: 136

ISBN-13: 0889206147

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A public-policy summary of the academic chapters presented at the 1993 Whistler Conference “Population, Consumption and the Environment” in which scholars from the world religions and the aboriginal traditions, as well as scientists, demographers, philosophers and economists from Canada, the U.S., Africa, Japan and India examined the double-sided problem of population pressure and excess consumption, and the resulting degradation of the environment.