Jonathan Porritt
Earthscan, 2005
Porritt is chairman of the UK Sustainable Development Commission; former chairman of the Ecology Party (now the Green Party); a former director of the Friends of the Earth UK; and currently runs the Forum for the Future, which aims to persuade individual businesses to improve their environmental performance. His book is essential for anyone seeking to understand the essentials of developing a sustainable economy.
“With great respect to those who assert the so-called ‘primacy’ of key social and economic goals (such as the elimination of poverty or the attainment of universal human rights), it must be said loud and clear that these are secondary goals: all else is conditional upon learning to live sustainably within the Earth’s systems and limits. Not only is the pursuit of biophysical sustainability non-negotiable; it’s preconditional.”
“Having said that, these are really two sides of the same coin. On the one hand, social sustainability is entirely dependent upon ecological sustainability. As we continue to undermine nature’s capacity to provide humans with essential services (such as clean water, a stable climate and so on) and resources (such as food and raw materials), both individuals and nation states will be subjected to growing amounts of pressure. Conflict will grow, and threats to public health and personal safety will increase in the face of ecological degradation.”