Climate change - and its environmental, economic and socal consequences - is set to become the greatest challenge for humanity in the 21st century. There has been much new research and much recent publicity about the huge problems facing us, but plausible proposals on how to deal with these are, so far, woefully inadequate. A few reports have given some indications about what can actually be done to get to grips with climate change, but very little has so far been written about how the necessary changes can be brought about. A Renewable World, a flagship publication of the World Future Council, is intended to fill an important knowledge gap. It treats the subject as an ethical problem to be addressed on behalf of future generations. It builds on the best thinking on climate and energy to be found across the world. It also integrates much of the research and campaign work being done by the WFC - the work on feed-in tariffs, energy efficiency, sustainable agriculture, sustainable cities, future justice and the KidsCall campaign. World Future Councillors and staff have been centrally involved in shaping this project and in giving it the substance that will make it stand out.
We have turned our home planet into a disposable world, using resources as though there were no tomorrow. It is time to make it a renewable world instead. We must urgently reconcile two things: our common desire to achieve certain living standards, and our requirements to do so sustainable. And we must do this in the face of the quadruple crisis facing us – climate, energy, finance and poverty. This timely book explores proven and emerging solutions for building a global green energy economy as a basis for a prosperous and yet sustainable world. Only a world based on continuous renewal can sustain life and livelihoods. This book shares many examples and proposals for: accelerating the renewable energy revolution; renewing the world’s ecosystems and soils; renewing cities and local economies; invigorating international cooperation. It is a book full of ideas whose time has come.
Dedication.
Acknowledgements.
Foreword by Bianca Jagger.
Foreword by Ashok Khosla.
Introduction and executive summary.
List of acronyms and abbreviations.
Energy Change, Climate Change.
Carbon and the Biosphere.
Renewable Energy.
Towards Energy Equality.
Energy Sufficiency.
The Green-Collar Economy.
Renewing the City.
From Global to Local?
Problem Technologies.
Going Deeper, Looking Further.
References.
Index.
The World Future Council.
About the Authors.
'Here's the book we've been waiting for: a thorough, up-to-date, and above all proportionate response to our climatic predicament. When I say proportionate, I mean: it tells us how to solve the problem we really have, not the one we wish we had. It's truly important!'
- Bill McKibben, founder, 350.org.
Moving towards a green economy requires focused and smart public policies to enable new markets to emerge. The story of renewable energy and feed-in tariffs presented in this book provides a powerful illustration of how consumers and producers of clean energy can - given the right policy framework - transform the market for energy almost overnight.'
- Achim Steiner, Executive Director, UNEP.
'A Renewable World is based on the renewable gifts of sun, soil, seed. This is how sustainable societies of the South, especially the women, have kept society fed and clothed over millennia. This important book highlights the solutions that allow us to regenerate our renewable natural capital and reduce our ecological footprint, while increasing human welfare.'
- Vandana Shiva
Herbert Girardet
Prof. Herbert Giradet is an author, consultant and filmmaker. He is an honorary fellow of the Royal Institute for British Architects (RIBA), a patron of the Soil Association, and a recipient of a UN Global 500 Award for outstanding environmental achievements. In 2003 he was Thinker in Residence in Adelaide, developing sustainability strategies for South Australia. He is visiting professor at the University of Northumbria, Middlesex University, and the University of West of England. His previous books include The Gaia Atlas of Cities.
Miguel Mendonça is Research Manager for the World Future Council. He works in both research and advocacy, focussing on renewable energy policy. He has worked on four continents, campaigning, coalitionbuilding and speaking, and is a member of the steering committee of the Alliance for Renewable Energy. He writes articles, comment pieces and book reviews on renewable energy and other sustainability issues.
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