In a changing world, this paper asks the question: "how does one devise strategies for society that will allow a peaceful, equitable, fulfilled human future: a humane future for a diverse earth?" It considers what the environmental movement can do to help make this happen.The authors call for a transition to sustainability by identifying global trends, which include: inequality has increased over the past decade; there are shortfalls in sustainable human wellbeing; and the era of cheap hydrocarbons is coming to an end. A shift to a low-carbon economy is essential but ideas about how to achieve sustainability are fragmented.There is no magic bullet, but solutions recommended by the authors include:

create an economy that can fit on a single planet: the way people think about growth and prosperity must be changed to achieve more with less
rejuvenate the global environmental movement: the movement must help link together communities and organisations working out practical solutions to sustainability challenges, and ways to live with more happiness and lower energy and material consumption
build an institutional architecture to bring about change: transition to sustainability depends on the collaborative and coherent actions of political and business leaders, governments (from local to national), and an effective international environmental regime.

Publication date
Type of publication
Document
Objective
Adaptation
Approach
Community based
Collection
Eldis
Cross-sectoral enabler
Governance and planning
CTCN Keyword Matches
Mitigation in the pulp and paper industry
Community based
Traditional building materials and design