A: Energy, ecology, equality

A Report for the World Future Council

‘Here’s the book we’ve been waiting for: a thorough, up-to-date, andabove all proportionate response to our climatic predicament. When Isay proportionate, I mean: it tells us how to solve the problem wereally have, not the one we wish we had. It’s truly important!’ — BillMcKibben, founder, 350​.org

‘Moving towards a green economy requires focused and smart publicpolicies to enable new markets to emerge. The story of renewable energyand feed-in tariffs presented in this book provides a powerfulillustration of how consumers and producers of clean energy can ó giventhe right policy framework ó transform the market for energy almostovernight.’ — 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 bookhighlights the solutions that allow us to regenerate our renewablenatural capital and reduce our ecological footprint, while increasinghuman welfare.’- Vandana Shiva, scientist and activist

Climate change and energy shortages are set to become the greatestchallenges for humanity in the 21st century. While a few reports havegiven some indication about what can be done to get to get to gripswith these problems, very little has been written about how thenecessary changes can be brought about. This book is all about how thekey steps needed to make the crucial transition can happen.

The latest climate research indicates that the challenge facing us isnot just the reduction of our annual global emissions of greenhousegases, but of their actual concentrations in the atmosphere. Afteryears of inaction, urgent and comprehensive action is now needed toturn an existential crisis for humanity today into an opportunity tosecure the well-being and prosperity of present and future generations.

This book shows how we can:

ï accelerate the renewable energy revolution,
ï renew our local economies and our urban habitat,
ï renew the living systems of planet earth, and
ï renew and invigorate international cooperation.

Illustrated in full colour, A Renewable World deals with avariety of urgent issues in a holistic, comprehensive and accessibleway. We can all help to influence and accelerate the measures that areneeded to deal with the climate and energy crisis. A Renewable World shows how.

The Authors: Prof. Herbert Girardet is an author, filmmaker andconsultant, focusing on sustainable development. He is co-founder andProgram Director of the World Future Council, a former chairman of theSchumacher Society, UK, a patron of the Soil Association, and visitingprofessor at the University of the West of England. He is a recipientof a UN Global 500 Award for outstanding environmental achievements. In2003, as Thinker in Residence’ in Adelaide, he developed environmentstrategies for South Australia that are now being implemented. Hisprevious books include The Gaia Atlas of Cities, 1992 and 1996; Cities, People, Planet: Urban Development and Climate Change, 2004 and 2008; and Surviving The Century: Facing Climate Change and Other Global Challenges, 2007.

Miguel MendonÁa is the World Future Council’s Research Manager. Hisbackground is in horticulture, geography, history, journalism, socialscience and environmental ethics. He is a writer and advocate,currently focussing on social and political aspects of renewable energypolicy. He has spoken and campaigned globally, and is an advisor tofeed-in tariff campaigns in North America and New Zealand. He writesbooks, papers, articles, comment pieces and reviews on sustainabilityissues, and is author of Feed-in Tariffs — accelerating the deployment of renewable energy, and co-author of Powering the Green Economy: The Feed-in Tariff Handbook.