Come On!

Come On!

Author: Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2017-11-12

Total Pages: 232

ISBN-13: 149397419X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Current worldwide trends are not sustainable. The Club of Rome’s warnings published in the book Limits to Growth are still valid. Remedies that are acceptable for the great majority tend to make things worse. We seem to be in a philosophical crisis. Pope Francis says it clearly: our common home is in deadly danger. Analyzing the philosophical crisis, the book comes to the conclusion that the world may need a “new enlightenment”; one that is not based solely on doctrine, but instead addresses a balance between humans and nature, as well as a balance between markets and the state, and the short versus long term. To do this we need to leave behind working in ”silos” in favor of a more systemic approach that will require us to rethink the organization of science and education. However, we have to act now; the world cannot wait until 7.6 billion people have struggled to reach a new enlightenment. This book is full of optimistic case studies and policy proposals that will lead us back to a trajectory of sustainability. But it is also necessary to address the taboo topic of population increase. Countries with a stable population fare immensely better than those with continued increase. Finally, we are presenting an optimistic book from the Club of Rome.


Factor Four

Factor Four

Author: Ernst U.von Weizsacker

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-10-11

Total Pages: 353

ISBN-13: 1134177542

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Since the industrial revolution, progress has meant an increase in labour productivity. Factor Four describes a new form of progress, resource productivity, a form which meets the overriding imperative for the future (sustainability). It shows how at least four times as much wealth can be extracted from the resources we use. As the authors put it, the book is about doing more with less, but this is not the same as doing less, doing worse or doing without. In 1972, the Club of Rome published Limits to Growth, which sent shock waves around the world by arguing that we were rapidly running out of essential resources. This Report to the Club of Rome offers a solution. It lies in using resources more efficiently, in ways which can already be achieved, not at a cost, but at a profit. The book contains a wealth of examples of revolutionizing productivity, in the use of energy; from hypercars to low-energy beef; materials, from sub-surface drip irrigation to electronic books, transport, video conferencing to CyberTran, and demonstrating how much more could be generated from much less today. It explains how markets can be organized and taxes re-based to eliminate perverse incentives and reward efficiency, so wealth can grow while consumption does not. The benefits are enormous: profits will increase, pollution and waste will decrease and the quality of life will improve. Moreover, the benefits will be shared: progress will no longer depend on making ever fewer people more productive. Instead, more people and fewer resources can be employed. While for many developing countries the efficiency revolution may offer the only realistic chance of prosperity within a reasonable time span. The practical promise held out in this book is huge, but the authors show how it is up to each of us, as well as to businesses and governments, to make it happen.


Limits to Privatization

Limits to Privatization

Author: Marianne Beishem

Publisher: Earthscan

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 429

ISBN-13: 1849771839

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Limits to Privatization is the first thorough audit of privatizations from around the world. It outlines the historical emergence of globalization and liberalization, and from analyses of over 50 case studies of best- and worst-case experiences of privatization, it provides guidance for policy and action that will restore and maintain the right balance between the powers and responsibilities of the state, the private sector and the increasingly important role of civil society.The result is a book of major importance that challenges one of the orthodoxies of our day and provides a benchmark for future debate.


Ecological Tax Reform

Ecological Tax Reform

Author: Ernst Ulrich Weizsäcker

Publisher: Zed Books

Published: 1992-07

Total Pages: 104

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Carbon taxes, energy taxes and related measures are gaining increasing popularity around the world, as governments, activists and international bodies seek an effective way of integrating economic and environmental policies. Ecological Tax Reform offers a timely exploration of this key component of the global fight against climate change. Providing a useful overview of the arguments for and against environmental taxation, the book's central proposition is that such taxes can play an instrumental role in promoting environmentally friendly industry, as well as raising valuable funds for economic development and state efforts to combat global warming. The authors go on to argue that such taxes could be usefully applied to such diverse economic areas as fossil fuel consumption, nuclear energy, water, raw materials and waste. Concise and accessible to undergraduates as well as the general reader, Ecological Tax Reform represents the perfect introduction for those seeking to understand the role which taxation can play in achieving a more sustainable society.


The Art of Leading Collectively

The Art of Leading Collectively

Author: Petra Kuenkel

Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing

Published: 2016-01-20

Total Pages: 306

ISBN-13: 160358627X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A guide to collaborative impact for leaders in industry, government, and social change networks Our world is facing unsustainable global trends—from climate change and water scarcity to energy insecurity, unfair labor practices, and growing inequality. Tackling these crises effectively requires a new form of leadership—a collective one. But, in a world of many silos, how do we get people to work together toward a common goal? That is one of the most important questions facing sustainability and social-change professionals around the world, and it is a question that Petra Kuenkel answers in The Art of Leading Collectively. Readers learn how to tackle system change for sustainable development, reimagine leadership as a collaborative endeavor, retrain leaders to work collectively, and manage diverse groups through a change process that has sustainability as a guiding focus. Drawing upon two decades of pioneering, internationally recognized work orchestrating multi-stakeholder initiatives, Kuenkel presents her chief tool, the Collective Leadership Compass, and shows others how to use it with large groups of diverse stakeholders to solve complex, urgent problems—particularly those that enmesh business activities, governance, human needs, and environmental impacts. The book offers many examples of collective leadership efforts involving corporate, public, and nonprofit sectors around the world. Readers learn about the processes that led to a sustainable textile alliance and set standards for sustainable cocoa and coffee production and trade, as well as those that helped nations rebound from war, develop sustainable infrastructure, and tackle resource conflicts with global businesses, to name a few. Kuenkel provides a clear roadmap for leaders from multinational companies involved in partnerships, international organizations engaged in cooperative development, public agencies, and interest groups—as well as for citizens seeking solutions to social and sustainability challenge


The End of the Megamachine

The End of the Megamachine

Author: Fabian Scheidler

Publisher: John Hunt Publishing

Published: 2020-09-25

Total Pages: 284

ISBN-13: 1789042720

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

"A must read for everyone rising against the system that is destroying life on earth and our future." Vandana Shiva, World Future Council The End of the Megamachine provides a uniquely comprehensive picture of the roots of the destructive forces that are threatening the future of humankind today. Spanning 5000 years of history, the book shows how the three tyrannies of militarized states, capital accumulation and ideological power have been steering both ecosystems and societies to the brink of collapse. With the growing instability of the Megamachine in the 21st century, new dangers open up as well as new possibilities for systemic change, to which everyone can contribute.


The Future of Sustainability

The Future of Sustainability

Author: Marco Keiner

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2006-09-09

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 1402049080

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book presents a broad discussion on sustainable development, rethinking and improving its effectiveness as a paradigm of today and tomorrow. Outstanding visionary thinkers and scientists offer their timely assessment on the future prospects of mankind: In what direction are we heading? How can the world become more just and equitable, and how can future development be sustained to adequately address economic, social, and – perhaps most important – environmental issues?


Integral Investing

Integral Investing

Author: Mariana Bozesan

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2020-10-09

Total Pages: 300

ISBN-13: 3030540162

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Today, early-stage investors and entrepreneurs find themselves in a dilemma in which they must choose between profit and impact; between traditional, for-profit-only models on the one hand, and multiple-bottom-line structures with a positive social or environmental impact on the other. At a time in which climate change, exponentially growing technologies, social polarization, and looming pandemics are calling into question humanity’s priorities, this Report to the Club of Rome and the World Academy of Art and Science dissolves this dilemma by proposing a new investment paradigm, namely Integral Investing. Integral Investing incorporates and transcends the best practices of both traditional venture capital and impact investing. It provides a seamless integration and shows how technological progress need not be our rival, but can instead be our ally in ensuring the prosperous society we all want. Drawing on her own investments and stellar track record since 1995, the author reveals the mechanism of Integral Investing. At the heart of it is a powerful, 360-degree de-risking tool called the Theta Model, which reveals how to make smart investment decisions based on the comprehensive integration of traditional due-diligence criteria, sustainability metrics, and assessments of the founders’ and team culture. But it doesn’t stop there. In turn, this handbook demonstrates how to use human-centered AI to scale and digitalize the investment process. The goal here is to accelerate the use of exponential tech, capital, and consciousness leadership to transition to a sustainable global society: a process the author refers to as the Investment Turnaround. The 21 principles of Integral Investing, which she defines using Ken Wilber’s Integral Theory, lead to her manifesto on how to implement the UN Sustainable Development Goals within Planetary Boundaries by 2050 through early-stage investing and entrepreneurship. Similar to the 15th century, when the Medicis inspired the Renaissance, today humanity is once again at a crucial turning point where pioneering public and private financiers, investors, entrepreneurs, and other committed individuals have the opportunity to leave behind the legacy of a prosperous society. This handbook provides a source of inspiration, and shows how self-actualization, a positive mindset, and a consciousness that is backed by a world-centric desire can become the driving force for solving the global grand challenges.


Earth System Analysis

Earth System Analysis

Author: Hans-Joachim Schellnhuber

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 548

ISBN-13: 3642523544

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Since this new science is of an unprecedented interdisciplinary nature, the book does not merely take stock of its numerous ingredients, but also delivers their multifaceted integration. The resulting master paradigm - the co-evolution of nature and anthroposphere within a geo-cybernetic continuum of processes - is based on a structured manifold of partial paradigms with their specific ranges. Most importantly, this serves the scientific foundation of a meaningful, safe and efficient environment and development management for solving the most burning questions concerning humankind and its natural environment. The more concrete elucidation of the natural and human dimensions, as well as various attempts and instruments of integration are represented in the different parts of the book, while the didactic quality is heightened by many allegoric illustrations.


Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker

Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker

Author: Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2014-05-21

Total Pages: 262

ISBN-13: 3319036629

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

On the occasion of the 75th birthday of Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker this unique anthology presents thought-provoking texts from 1970 to 2013, spanning several disciplines and combining science and practice. Among them are three Reports to the Club of Rome that Weizsäcker lead-authored, a new university curriculum system to promote interdisciplinary studies and a proposal for a five-fold increase in resource productivity, which would make it possible to shut down nuclear and fossil power plants, avoiding dangerous climate change impacts. Weizsäcker is Co-President of the Club of Rome and Co-Chair of UNEP’s Resource Panel. He has served as a Professor of Biology, President of Kassel Univ., Director of the UN Centre for Science and Technology and of the Institute for European Environment Policy, President of the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, as a Member of the Bundestag, as Chair of its Environment Committee and as Dean of the Bren School for Environmental Science and Management, Univ. of California, Santa Barbara, USA.