Cents and Sustainability

Cents and Sustainability

Author: Cheryl Desha

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2010-09-23

Total Pages: 466

ISBN-13: 1136532560

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Cents and Sustainability is a clear-sighted response to the 1987 call by Dr Gro Brundtland in Our Common Future to achieve a new era of economic growth that is 'forceful and at the same time socially and environmentally sustainable'. The Brundtland Report argued that not only was it achievable, but that it was an urgent imperative in order to achieve a transition to sustainable development while significantly reducing poverty and driving 'clean and green' investment. With some still arguing for significantly slowing economic growth in order to reduce pressures on the environment, this new book, Cents and Sustainability, shows that it is possible to reconcile the need for economic growth and environmental sustainability through a strategy to decouple economic growth from environmental pressures, combined with a renewed commitment to achieve significant environmental restoration and poverty reduction. Beginning with a brief overview of some of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time, the book then explains 'decoupling theory', overviews a number of factors that can undermine and even block efforts to decouple in both developed and developing countries, and then discusses a number of key considerations to assist the development of national 'decoupling strategies'. The book then focuses on presenting evidence to support greater action, not just on climate change, but also on decoupling economic growth from the loss of biodiversity and the deterioration of natural systems, freshwater extraction, waste production, and air pollution. In the lead up to the 2012 United Nations Earth Summit and beyond, Cents and Sustainability will be a crucial guide to inform and assist nations to develop strategies to significantly reduce environmental pressures, strengthen their economy, create jobs and reduce poverty. 'I commend the team from The Natural Edge Project and their partners for undertaking to develop a response to 'Our Common Future' to mark its 20th anniversary.' Dr Gro Brundtland. Sequel to The Natural Advantage of Nations Published with The Natural Edge Project


What Next for Sustainable Development?

What Next for Sustainable Development?

Author: James Meadowcroft

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published: 2019

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 1788975200

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This book examines the international experience with sustainable development since the concept was brought to world-wide attention in Our Common Future, the 1987 report of the World Commission on Environment and Development. Scholars from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds engage with three critical themes: negotiating environmental limits; equity, environment and development; and transitions and transformations. In light of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals recently adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, they ask what lies ahead for sustainable development.


An Analysis of The Brundtland Commission's Our Common Future

An Analysis of The Brundtland Commission's Our Common Future

Author: Ksenia Gerasimova

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2017-07-05

Total Pages: 104

ISBN-13: 1351352644

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Our Common Future is a joint work produced in 1987 by a United Nations commission headed by former Norwegian Prime Minister, Gro Brundtland. Also known as The Brundtland Report, it offers a classic approach to problem solving by first asking a productive question. How do we protect the world we live in for future generations, while at the same time stimulating economic and social development right now? The solution the work proposes is “sustainable development”, defined in the report as humanity’s ability “to ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” The key conclusion the report came to – that we need long-term strategies to manage the earth’s natural resources – proved to be so universally welcomed it introduced the term “sustainability” into the everyday language of international politics. Solving the problem of workable sustainable development became a hot topic, leading to the birth of a new academic discipline, environmental economics. The book offered a solution to the problem of ensuring sustainable development by highlighting the critical importance of international cooperation.


Defining Sustainable Development for Our Common Future

Defining Sustainable Development for Our Common Future

Author: Iris Borowy

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-12-04

Total Pages: 278

ISBN-13: 1135961220

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The UN World Commission on Environment and Development, chaired by former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, alerted the world to the urgency of making progress toward economic development that could be sustained without depleting natural resources or harming the environment. Written by an international group of politicians, civil servants and experts on the environment and development, the Brundtland Report changed sustainable development from a physical notion to one based on social, economic and environmental issues. This book positions the Brundtland Commission as a key event within a longer series of international reactions to pressing problems of global poverty and environmental degradation. It shows that its report, "Our Common Future", published in 1987, covered much more than its definition of sustainable development as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" for which it became best known. It also addressed a long list of issues which remain unresolved today. The book explores how the work of the Commission juggled contradictory expectations and world views, which existed within the Commission and beyond, and drew on the concept of sustainable development as a way to reconcile profound differences. The result was both an immense success and disappointment. Coining an irresistibly simple definition enabled the Brundtland Commission to place sustainability firmly on the international agenda. This definition gained acceptability for a potentially divisive concept, but it also diverted attention from underlying demands for fundamental political and social changes. Meanwhile, the central message of the Commission – the need to make inconvenient sustainability considerations a part of global politics as much as of everyday life – has been side-lined. The book thus assesses to what extent the Brundtland Commission represented an immense step forward or a missed opportunity.


Defining Sustainable Development for Our Common Future

Defining Sustainable Development for Our Common Future

Author: Iris Borowy

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-12-04

Total Pages: 308

ISBN-13: 1135961298

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The UN World Commission on Environment and Development, chaired by former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, alerted the world to the urgency of making progress toward economic development that could be sustained without depleting natural resources or harming the environment. Written by an international group of politicians, civil servants and experts on the environment and development, the Brundtland Report changed sustainable development from a physical notion to one based on social, economic and environmental issues. This book positions the Brundtland Commission as a key event within a longer series of international reactions to pressing problems of global poverty and environmental degradation. It shows that its report, "Our Common Future", published in 1987, covered much more than its definition of sustainable development as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" for which it became best known. It also addressed a long list of issues which remain unresolved today. The book explores how the work of the Commission juggled contradictory expectations and world views, which existed within the Commission and beyond, and drew on the concept of sustainable development as a way to reconcile profound differences. The result was both an immense success and disappointment. Coining an irresistibly simple definition enabled the Brundtland Commission to place sustainability firmly on the international agenda. This definition gained acceptability for a potentially divisive concept, but it also diverted attention from underlying demands for fundamental political and social changes. Meanwhile, the central message of the Commission – the need to make inconvenient sustainability considerations a part of global politics as much as of everyday life – has been side-lined. The book thus assesses to what extent the Brundtland Commission represented an immense step forward or a missed opportunity.


Global Change and Our Common Future

Global Change and Our Common Future

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 1989-02-01

Total Pages: 242

ISBN-13: 0309040892

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Global Change and Our Common Future includes 22 edited presentations from the Forum on Global Change and Our Common Future. The Forum, sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences, Smithsonian Institution, American Association for the Advancement of Sciences, and Sigma Xi, was organized to inform the public about the changes occurring in the global environment and the implications for public policy.


The Routledge Handbook of Tourism and the Environment

The Routledge Handbook of Tourism and the Environment

Author: Andrew Holden

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 626

ISBN-13: 0415582075

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This handbook explores and critically evaluates the debates and controversies inherent to tourism's relationship with nature, especially pertinent at a time of major re-evaluation of our relationship with the environment as a consequence of the environmental problems we now face.


Unraveling Bias

Unraveling Bias

Author: Christia Spears Brown

Publisher: BenBella Books

Published: 2021-11-30

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 195329555X

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NATIONAL INDIE EXCELLENCE AWARD WINNER — PARENTING & FAMILY • 2022 IPPY AWARDS GOLD MEDALIST — PARENTING “Timely, informative, thought-provoking, inspirationally motivating.” —Midwest Book Review "[Brown] offers pragmatic advice for teachers on how to stand up for diversity and inclusiveness in the classroom." —San Francisco Book Review We need only scan the latest news headlines to see how bias and prejudice harm adults and children alike—every single day. Police shootings that give rise to the Black Lives Matter revolution . . . rampant sexual harassment of women and the subsequent #MeToo movement . . . extreme violence toward trans men and women. It would be easy to fix these problems if the examples stopped with a few racist or sexist individuals, but there are also biases embedded in our government policies, media, and institutions. As a developmental psychologist and international expert on stereotypes and discrimination in children, Dr. Christia Spears Brown knows that biases and prejudice don’t just develop as people become adults (or CEOs or politicians). They begin when children are young, slowly growing and exposed to prejudice in their classrooms, after-school activities, and, yes, even in their homes, no matter how enlightened their parents may consider themselves to be. The only way to have a more just and equitable world—not to mention more broad-minded, empathetic children—is for parents to closely examine biases beginning in childhood and how they infiltrate our kids’ lives. In her new book Unraveling Bias: How Prejudice Has Shaped Children for Generations and Why It's Time to Break the Cycle, Dr. Brown will uncover what scientists have learned about how children are impacted by biases, and how we adults can help protect them from those biases. Part science, part history, part current events, and part call to arms, Unraveling Bias provides readers with the answers to vital questions: • How do biased policies, schools, and media harm our children? • Where does childhood prejudice come from, and how do these prejudices shape children’s behavior, goals, relationships, and beliefs about themselves? • What can we learn from modern-day science to help us protect our children from these biases? Few issues today are as critical as being aware of bias and prejudice all around us and making sure our kids don’t succumb to them. To change lives and advance society, it’s time to unravel our biases—starting with the future leaders of the world.