Adapt and Thrive: The Sustainable Revolution

About this book

Radical green business book, which argues that we need to move beyond the short-term benefits of globalisation to build strong communities "living as integral components of a sustainable world".

Contents

Preface Overview PART 1 - THE COMING OF THE SUSTAINABLE REVOLUTION Chapter 1: Adapt or Die Chapter 2: Striving for a Sustainable World Chapter 3: Our Globalized World Chapter 4: The Sustainable Revolution PART 2 - ISSUES AND OUTCOMES Chapter 5: The World's Natural Systems and Society Chapter 6: Climate Change Chapter 7: Balancing Energy Sources and Needs Chapter 8: The Energy Crunch Chapter 9: The Insatiable Appetite of Transportation Chapter 10: Icarus Air Chapter 11: Healthy, Cohesive Urban Communities Chapter 12: Putting King Car in Its Place Chapter 13: Global Manufacturing Renaissance Chapter 14: Our Thirst for Water Chapter 15: Safe, Sustainable Agriculture Chapter 16: Dealing with Waste PART 3 - SURVIVE AND THRIVE: FORCING THE PACE OF CHANGE Chapter 17: The Leaders of the Revolution Chapter 18: Mobilizing Business Chapter 19: Capital Markets and the Power of Ownership Chapter 20: Social Economics Chapter 21: Environmental Economics Chapter 22: Adaptation Laboratories Chapter 23: Profiting from the Transition Chapter 24: A Shared Destiny

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Biography

Peter McManners is described as both a 'green business guru' and a 'hard-edged environmentalist'. His views over the transition to a sustainable society are radical and uncompromising. The seeds of his ideas were sown in the late 1970s as a young engineering student at Durham University where, in designing a solar water heating system, he was surprised that such systems were not universally applied. Peter's interest in the environment continued to grow as he pursued a military career. His interests led him to become a military mapping expert, surveying remote parts of the world. He was smitten with the beauty of the continent of Africa but ashamed of much of the negative influence exerted by other outsiders and concerned for the environmental damage being caused. This was the spur to starting research into global databases and environmental monitoring, graduating from Edinburgh University's MSc in Geographic Information Systems with distinction. After completing an MBA in 2000, Peter started to commit to paper the central ideas which had been starting to coalesce; drawing on lessons from engineering, environment, business and other areas. In 2002 he won a prize in the Oxford Science Writing Competition for his article 'Is Carbon the Culprit?' From summer 2004 until summer 2008, McManners lived with his family in Finland to have more time to write. This is a country that features at the top of world league tables for both environmental stewardship and competiveness, and has influenced his writing. Peter McManners teaches Strategic Direction and the Global Business Environment on the Henley MBA. He has taught in the UK, Scandinavia and Germany. Recent papers include: 'Cities for People: Removing Cars from Urban Life' to a conference at the London School of Economics 2007; 'Putting an Economic Value to Land in Its Natural State' at the Institute of Green Economics Conference, Oxford University in 2008 and 'Adapt and Thrive: The Sustainable Revolution' at the Institute of Green Economics Conference, Oxford University in 2009. McManners is a regular columnist on sustainability issues and writes a weekly blog at www.petermcmanners.com.