State of the World, 2003: A Worldwatch Institute Report on Progress Toward a Sustainable Society"If we are going to reverse biodiversity loss, dampen the effects of global warming, and eliminate the scourge of persistent poverty, we need to reinvent ourselves--as individuals, as societies, as corporations, and as governments. In this 20th anniversary edition of a Worldwatch classic, the Institute's highly respected interdisciplinary research team argues that past successes--such as the elimination of smallpox and the encouraging drop in birth rates in many countries--prove that humanity is capable of redirecting itself in positive ways. Most encouraging, the world is sitting on the cusp of similar successes that could usher in a sustainable human civilization. The use of clean, renewable energy technologies, like wind turbines and photovoltaics for example, is growing at over 25 percent per year, and they are increasingly competitive with fossil fuels. Organic farming is the fastest-growing sector of the world agricultural economy, with the potential to rejuvenate rural communities from the Philippines to Sweden. And a quickening of religious interest in humanity's place in the natural environment could awaken a powerful new constituency to the cause of sustainability. The challenges are still immense, of course, as the book also documents. But the building blocks for a historic reinvention of human civilization are now within reach."--Worldwatch Institute website |
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areas bednets biodiversity Biodiversity Hotspots Brazil bushmeat capacity CHAPTER Climate Change COMBATING MALARIA communities Conservation costs countries decades decline devel discussion with author disease e-mail to author ecological economic ecosystems electricity emissions ENERGY FUTURE ENGAGING RELIGION Environment environmental forest fuel Fund gender global habitat habitat loss human increase industrial International investment Johannesburg July Kenya Kiunga land LINKING POPULATION live malaria ment metals million minerals mosquito Nairobi NGOs October Organization percent plants policies pollution poor poverty press release projects recycling regions religious renewable energy Research ronmental SCRAPPING MINING DEPENDENCE September 2002 slums social solar sources South Africa species Spix's macaw Stattersfield SUSTAINABLE WORLD technologies tion Tropical turbines U.S. Census Bureau UN-HABITAT UNFPA United Nations UNITING DIVIDED CITIES urban viewed Washington WATCHING BIRDS DISAPPEAR Wildlife Wind Energy wind power wind turbines women World Bank Worldwatch Institute York Zabbaleen