The Natural Edge Project Factor 5 Cents and Sustainability Whole System Design The Natural Advantage of Nations


"The achievement of sustainability objectives will require holistic actions by all sections of society and will require considerable cultural change to societal customs and aspirations. This necessitates the development of transitional pathways from the present situation to the preferred future."
Institution of Engineers Australia, "Towards a Sustainable Energy Future", August 2001





  Cents and Sustainability: Securing Our Common Future 
 

Our Common Future was one of the first sustainable development publications to suggest that the twin goals of economic growth and sustainable development could be reconciled. The focus of this new book is to provide an additional response to the call by Dr Gro Brundtland, in her 1987 Foreword, 'What is needed now is a new era of economic growth - growth that is forceful and at the same time socially and environmentally sustainable'.

With the 20th anniversary of Our Common Future in 2007, it is clearly the time to re-examine these important issues. Significant evidence and research is now available to allow a deeper understanding of how, and under what conditions, this 'forceful sustainable growth' is possible. The goal of 'Cents and Sustainability' is to further explore, in a modern global context, the conditions under which society can achieve a form of economic growth that is environmentally sustainable.

 
 

 

The introduction to 'Cents and Sustainability' will be written by Dr Jim MacNeill (former Secretary General to the Brundtland Commission, and former Director, OECD Environment Directorate 1978 -1984). It will carry forewords from Dr Gro Brundtland (former Chair of the World Commission on Environment and Development), Dr Rajendra Pachauri (Chief, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and joint recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the IPCC), and Dr Kenneth Ruffing (former Deputy Director and Chief Economist of the OECD Environment Directorate 2000 - 2005). The book's authors belong to The Natural Edge Project, the team behind 'The Natural Advantage of Nations: Business Opportunities, Innovation and Governance in the 21st Century'.

 

"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. The focus of this new book, 'Cents and Sustainability', is to bring together significant evidence from the last 20 years to demonstrate that environmental and social sustainability and economic growth need not be incompatible but rather can reinforce each other. The book will cover a range of efforts, studies, policies and mechanisms designed to show how effective and proven strategies of achieving social and environmental sustainability are already helping economic growth."

Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland

“It gives me great pleasure to contribute this foreword to ‘Cents and Sustainability’ and support a response by our next generation to the seminal publication Our Common Future, following its recent 20th anniversary. The Natural Edge Project is to be commended for tackling this vitally important issue and highlighting where in the world already communities, regions and nations are creating solutions to this great challenge of our time.”


R. K. Pachauri (Foreword Writer), Chief of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), accepting the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the IPCC in 2007


“The leitmotif of this book is how to decouple environmental pressures from economic growth while simultaneously making progress towards attaining the millennium development goals. It thus addresses a number of economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. The book restates the case for reducing environmental pressures. Failure to do so will entail very high costs to ourselves and future generations; the technological means and the policy tools needed already exist and, in most cases, have been deployed in one country or another; finally, the costs of implementing a decoupling agenda are eminently affordable, amounting to only a few percentage points of future increases in GDP.”

Dr. Kenneth G. Ruffing (Foreword Writer), formerly Deputy Director and Chief Economist of the OECD Environment Directorate from 2000 to 2005

“It is not wise simply to hope that our decision makers will make the right choices, especially given the fact that there are still powerful vested interests who do not want to see a transition to sustainable development. In the end, it is up to each and every one of us to leave as positive a legacy as possible to future generations. Cents and Sustainability, with its inspiring world class success stories, our earlier 1987 report to the United Nations entitled Our Common Future, and free online education and training packages by The Natural Edge Project will help empower you to play your part in helping achieve a sustainable future.”

Jim MacNeill, O.C. (Introduction Writer), Secretary General, World Commission on Environment and Development, and Chief Architect and lead author of Our Common Future (1987)

 

“The Natural Edge Project has written the best summary to date outlining the complexity of the climate change science while validating why early action is necessary. Their analysis provides the clearest description of the costs of purposeful action and how those costs can be reduced in the energy generation sector. A must read for all policy makers, investors, and energy executives!”


Archie Kasnet, Partner, Aedi Group


"The members of the Natural Edge Project are representatives of Australia’s next generation of decision-makers and thought leaders. The Purves Environmental Fund is therefore delighted to support the work of this committed and talented team. Cents and Sustainability takes on the critical issue of how we can improve human welfare while not exceeding the limits of the natural world we inhabit. To quote Ray Anderson, 'How to do well and do good at the same time is the challenge'. This book addresses that challenge. As with the Natural Edge’s previous publication, The Natural Advantage of Nations, Cents and Sustainability is a tremendous achievement and a timely and important contribution. I commend it as essential reading for anyone who is concerned with long-term sustainability and prosperity."

Robert Purves, Chair, Purves Environmental Fund

The Development of this publication has been made possible by a Grant from the Purves Environmental Fund.