Since the report to The Club of Rome Limits of Growth was published some 30 years ago, the question is still open which approach we must take with our planet. Three factors will have the most influence on the global development of the environment: demographic and climate development and the potential for innovation. The concept of sustainability requires long-term thinking in order to use natural resources in such a way that future generations have the same opportunities we do. This message is confirmed in this review by the members of the Club of Rome's European Forum on Sustainability, which was founded in autumn 2002 in Vienna by the European Support Centre of the Club of Rome in co-operation with the Austrian Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Labour and in partnership with the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) Vienna, together with high-level experts and scientists. An immediate and extensive global course correction across the board would, however, be required. Thus far in fact, the price paid for the success of globalisation has been very high--environmental degradation and a global social split. This review presents as potential solutions a new economic model, an international treaty between the North and the South, a fundamental right to food and the principles of a sustainable retirement reform.

Breaking new ground in its innovative blend of quantitative and qualitative methods, the book essentially argues that another sort of growth is indeed possible. While offering specific insights for regional leaders and analysts of metropolitan areas, the authors also draw a broader – and quite timely – set of conclusions about how to scale up these efforts to address a U.S. economy still seeking to recover from economic crisis and ameliorate distributional divisions.

This book explores what is needed for an overall evaluation of the prosperity and wellbeing of people within a framework of sustaining the economy, environment and development. The book begins by assessing the validity of available data, indicators and indices in decision and policy making. It describes what the data tell us about the effects of economic activity on the quality of life and prosperity of people and nations, now and in the future, and highlights how a reliance on partial and distorted information can thwart rational policies. It also examines whether less tangible notions of wellbeing and happiness lend themselves to quantification and prediction. Overall, Bartelmus demonstrates the need for integrated accounting and analysis to revise policy priorities around environmental, social, economic and sustainability concerns. Confronting the persisting polarization of environmentalists and economists, this book will be of great relevance to students, scholars and professionals with an interest in environmental and ecological economics, sustainability indicators and their use in integrative policy.