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The Sustainability Scorecard: How to Implement and Profit from Unexpected Solutions
by Urvashi Bhatnagar Paul AnastasUsing a rigorous, straightforward scorecard as a guide, this book shows business leaders and innovators how to create breakthrough sustainable products and processes that are good for the planet, human health, and profits. Natural resource inputs to business operations are getting scarcer and more expensive, while climate-change-related economic shocks pose a risk to seamless operations and, more importantly, threaten business continuity. How can organizations integrate sustainable design in their overarching operations and align it with profitability and corporate strategy? Based on Paul Anastas's foundational Twelve Principles of Green Chemistry, the Sustainability Scorecard is the first scientifically rooted, data-driven methodology for creating inherently sustainable and profitable products and processes. By redesigning with sustainability as a key design element, firms open themselves to unexpected solutions, leapfrog innovations, and sources of value that simply don't occur when sustainability is leveraged purely as a risk-avoidance and compliance measure. Urvashi Bhatnagar and Anastas offer dozens of examples of how sustainable operations can yield benefits such as expanding market share, creating new service lines, and transforming supply-chain and sourcing models to drive the most consistent and highest long-term value. With this comprehensive framework, your firm will be able to identify truly innovative, inherently sustainable products as opposed to "less bad" products and processes that don't provide the exponential value that only breakthrough products can.
Sustainability (Second Edition): A Bedford Spotlight Reader
by Christian R. WeisserSustainability explores questions around the central concept of sustainability: What are its foundations and politics? How do crises challenge sustainability? How is sustainability connected to local and transnational environments? How is sustainability connected to tourism and recreation? <P><P>Readings by a range of ecologists, urban planners, philosophers, geographers, reporters, artists, and ordinary citizens take up these questions and more. Questions and assignments for each selection provide a range of activities for students. The website for the Spotlight Series offers comprehensive instructor support with sample syllabi and additional teaching resources. <P><P>The Bedford Spotlight Reader Series is an exciting line of single-theme readers, each reflecting Bedford’s trademark care and quality. An editorial board of a dozen compositionists at schools with courses focusing on specific themes assists in the development of the series. Each reader collects thoughtfully chosen selections sufficient for an entire writing course—about 35 pieces—to allow instructors to provide carefully developed, high-quality instruction at an affordable price. <P><P>Bedford Spotlight Readers are designed to help students from all majors make sustained inquiries from multiple perspectives, opening up topics such as money, food, border crossings, music, humor, subcultures, happiness, monsters, sustainability, and gender to critical analysis. The readers are flexibly arranged in thematic chapters, with each chapter focusing in depth on a different facet of the central topic. The website for the Spotlight Series offers comprehensive instructor support with sample syllabi and additional teaching resources.
The Sustainability Secret: Rethinking Our Diet to Transform the World
by Kip Andersen Keegan KuhnThis companion to the documentary Cowspiracy explores the devastating environmental impacts of animal agriculture—and new paths to sustainability. The 2014 documentary Cowspiracy presented alarming truths about the effects of animal agriculture on the planet. One of the leading causes of deforestation, greenhouse gas production, water use, species extinction, ocean dead-zones, and a host of other ills, animal agriculture is a major threat to the future of all species, and one of the environmental industry&’s best-kept secrets.The Sustainability Secret expands upon Cowspiracy in every way. In this updated volume, the film&’s co-creators reveal shocking new facts and interview the leaders of businesses, environmental organizations, and political groups about the disastrous effects of animal agriculture. Extended transcripts, updated statistics, tips on becoming vegan, and comprehensive reading lists provide an in-depth overview of this planetary crisis and demonstrate effective ways to offset the damage.
The Sustainability Secret
by Chris Hedges Kip Andersen Keegan KuhnThe groundbreaking 2014 documentary Cowspiracy presents shocking truths about the effects of industrial animal agriculture on the planet. The leading cause of deforestation, rainforest destruction, greenhouse gas production, water consumption and pollution, habitat loss, species extinction, ocean dead-zones, topsoil erosion, and a host of other environmental ills, animal agriculture is the biggest issue facing the planet today and one of the most controversial environmental secrets in the world of conservation.Filled with anecdotes, statistics, research, interviews with the filmmakers and contributors, and unabridged transcripts from the film, this companion book supplements and expands upon the documentary in every way. With all this and more, The Sustainability Secret reveals the absolutely devastating environmental impact large-scale factory farming has on our planet and offers a path to global sustainability for a growing population.
Sustainability, Stakeholders and Marketing in the Textile Sector: Conceptual and Practical Cases for the Americas (SDGs and Textiles)
by Aníbal Enrique Toscano-Hernández Saúl Alfonso Esparza-Rodríguez Gabino García-TapiaGeospatial analysis of the Sustainable Value Chain in the Textile sector of the United States.- Sustainable practices in the textile sector: Case study of the global value chain of the American economies.- Exploring eco-innovation performance in the textile industry: Case of two export-oriented Colombian firms.- Transformational and sustainable leadership in textile companies in Lima: a qualitative study.- Obstacles to innovation in textile SMEs in the Usaquen district of Bogota, Colombia 100 Reverse Logistics: A view from green capitalism and circular economy in textile companies in Mexico.- Green marketing strategies in sustainable fashion business models.- Green marketing and its contribution to the competitiveness of the textile and apparel sector. Case study in Cali.- The green swan´s theory and circular economy and it’s influence in regenerative capitalism.- Competitiveness of decent work of the us textile sector using a multivariable classification of the sdg 8 target 5: full employment and decent work.- Critical evaluation of successful strategies for sustainable manufacturing in the textile sector and their impact on the sustainable development goals: Case studies in Colombia.
Sustainability Standards and Global Governance: Experiences of Emerging Economies
by Archna Negi Jorge Antonio Pérez-Pineda Johannes BlankenbachThis open access book focuses on the issue of sustainability standards from the perspective of both global governance frameworks and emerging economies. It stems from the recognition that the accelerated pace of economic globalization has generated production and consumption patterns that are generating sustainability concerns. Sustainability standards (and regulations) are increasingly being used in a bid to make global consumption and production more sustainable. Given the dense inter-connectedness of economic affairs globally, the use of sustainability standards has become a concern of global governance, who face the challenge of achieving a balance between the use of standards for genuine sustainability objectives, and not allowing them to turn into instruments of protectionism or coercion.The emerging economies, given their increasing engagement with the global economy, are most impacted by the use of sustainability standards. The emphasis of ‘emerging economies’ in this book is retained both by using case studies from these economies and by collating perceptions and assessments of those located in these economies. The case studies included span sectors such as palm oil, forestry, food quality, vehicular emissions and water standards, and address the problems unique to the emerging economies, including capacity building for compliance with standards, adapting international standards in domestic contexts and addressing the exclusion of small and medium enterprises etc. Complex interfaces and dynamics of a global nature are not limited to the thematic of this book but also extend to the process through which it was written. This book brings together insights from developed as well as emerging economies (Germany, India, Mexico, Brazil, Indonesia, Pakistan, Mexico and China). It also brings together scholars and practitioners to jointly ponder upon the conceptual aspects of the global frameworks for sustainability standards. This book is a very useful resource for researchers and practitioners alike, and provides valuable insights for policy makers as well.
Sustainability Stories: The Power of Narratives to Understand Global Challenges
by Brigitte Bernard-Rau"Sustainability Stories" is an impactful book that offers a global perspective on the grand theme of sustainability. Through the lens of practitioners deeply committed to this cause, the book amplifies sometimes unheard voices, inspiring readers from diverse backgrounds to embrace environmental, social, and financial responsibilities. Each contributor, whether an entrepreneur, professor, lawyer, artist, or sustainability expert, acts as a visionary communicator, forging connections and leading by example. Featuring over 30 narratives from countries such as France, Germany, India, Morocco, Spain, Switzerland, and the United States, "Sustainability Stories" is sure to engage an international audience. Through its pages, this book spreads optimism, determination, and a desire for positive societal change. It empowers readers of all ages and educational backgrounds to join the movement toward a sustainable future. By sharing unique insights and experiences, "Sustainability Stories" serves as a catalyst, inspiring individuals to take action and make a difference in their professional practices, communities and lives.
Sustainability Strategies
by Renato J. OrsatoThe request on managers to base eco-investments on solid grounds has never been so vital. They need to know what they should do first, and why. Should they focus on generating carbon credits via eco-efficiencies? Enhance corporate reputation by joining Green Clubs? Subscribe to eco-label programs? Explore emerging cleantech markets? Within the overwhelming possibilities, many spend precious resources without sound criteria. By analyzing the rationales for sustainability strategies, this book addresses a timely question for managers, academics and MBAs: “when does it pay to be green?” Based on solid theoretical foundations and empirical research, it clarifies the elements involved in the formation and evaluation of sustainability strategies in firms, helping managers to prioritize eco-investments and transform them into sources of competitive advantage and new market spaces. Sustainability Strategies delves particularly deep into the troublesome global auto industry. By identifying the roots of economic and environmental problems of the sector, the book shows how to develop Sustainable Value Innovation: the creation of differential value for customers and contribution to society at both, reduced costs and environmental impacts.
Sustainability Teaching for Impact: How to Inspire and Engage Students Using Drama
by Tony Wall Eva Österlind Eva HallgrenSustainability Teaching for Impact is an essential step-by-step, practical guide for those wanting to inspire and engage higher education students in the areas of sustainability.This book encourages new and experienced university teachers across disciplines to adopt and adapt dramatic methods, with a view to develop their teaching. It introduces applied drama and performance arts methods that have been tried-and-tested across disciplines to deepen and broaden sustainability knowledge, skills, mindsets, and practices. Sustainability Teaching for Impact assumes no previous experience of the methods, as university teachers – with and without experience in drama – carefully walk you through some of the teaching practices they have used to create an impact in their teaching.This book is for higher and further education tutors who wish to build on their experience and deliver exciting and accessible classroom techniques and practices that are highly interactive, creative, and engaging to help further the teaching of sustainability.The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license.
Sustainability, Technology, and Finance: Rethinking How Markets Integrate ESG
by Herman Bril Georg Kell Andreas RascheThis book explores the swiftly emerging nexus between sustainability, finance, and technology. Leading practitioners and academic thought leaders reflect on the ways in which technology and digitalization shape how sustainable finance professionals address environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues. Together, the contributors identify three spheres in which technology shapes how investors make sense of such issues: ESG and technology: finance professionals need to know about how technological innovations, such as chemical recycling for plastics, in the real economy shape firms’ ESG performance; ESG through technology: technological developments, such as AI and blockchain, can enable finance professionals to offer more fine-grained ESG analyses; and ESG as technology: the ESG agenda itself is influenced by technological developments that are not well understood by practitioners (e.g., data mining for Bitcoin creating significant emissions). Using practically relevant examples and recent insights from people working in the field, the book explores the linkages between sustainability, technology, and finance in different contexts and shows how practitioners can accelerate needed change processes. This book primarily addresses practitioners in companies and investment firms as well as students enrolled in executive education and MBA programs.
Sustainability, Technology and Innovation 4.0 (Routledge Studies in Innovation, Organizations and Technology)
by Zbigniew Makieła, Magdalena M. Stuss and Ryszard BorowieckiSustainability, Technology and Innovation 4.0 is a holistic perception and analysis of innovation at the level of public organisations, innovation in industry and innovation in HR. Its chapters collectively present a thesis that Innovation 4.0 signals a technological revolution that has the opportunity to prevent environmental degradation and, in particular, to stop climate warming, the effects of which may disrupt the process of sustainable development. Uniquely, this edited book offers a comprehensive and multi-faceted examination of Innovation 4.0, fulfilling methodical, empirical and utilitarian goals. The methodological objective is to present tools that allow the identification, analysis and assessment of the relationship between Innovation 4.0 and inspiration that will carry society towards a new economic and social order. Its empirical aim is to enable the analysis and evaluation of the role of public organisations, innovation in industry and innovation in HR in the process of building sustainable development of the global environment. The book’s utilitarian goal is a recommendation for global organisations of Innovation 4.0 as an instrument to stimulate an innovative economy. This is a high-level research book aimed at postgraduates, MBA students, researchers and academics from business colleges and universities, and may also provide a valuable strategic perspective for business executives.
Sustainability through Service
by Adi Wolfson Shlomo Mark Patrick M. Martin Dorith TavorThis book discusses the mutual relationship between service and sustainability. It covers methodologies and approaches and describes measurements and tools that can promote sustainability on the service market. Lastly, it presents the different applications of sustainability, together with examples of sustainable services. Environmental concerns have become integral to any decision-making process in the design and implementation of goods and services. With the increasing dominance of the service sector, and as service systems become more complex and interdisciplinary, the focus must move from the exchange of products to that of services. Newly created services should thus aim to incorporate sustainability into their designs while viewing sustainability as a service in its own right. Integrating sustainability in the service design and development process is essential to improving the sustainability of our society and preserving the environment. Moreover, doing so shifts the service boundaries from values that are focused only on personal, local, and current needs and economic profit to those that are broader and more future oriented, ultimately placing greater social and environmental responsibility on all stakeholders. In addition, it advances the current state-of-the-art in sustainable development and service design and contributes to improving the quality of life on a global scale.
Sustainability Transformations, Social Transitions and Environmental Accountabilities (Palgrave Studies in Environmental Transformation, Transition and Accountability)
by Beth EdmondsonThis book draws upon diverse approaches and understandings of sustainability transformations, social transitions and environmental accountabilities. It presents case studies that highlight real-world consequences of changing ideas about how best to achieve effective and durable sustainability transformations and examines how environmental accountabilities and social transitions influence sustainability transformations. Each chapter provides insights regarding how new knowledge and perspectives matter for whether, when, and how people, governments, corporations and international organisations seek and pursue solutions to social-ecological challenges and sustainability dilemmas. It pays sustained attention to whether and how understandings and applications of accountability can improve international sustainability transformations. The chapters presented in this book consider some pressing questions concerning social transitions and environmental accountabilities: how can they contribute to sustainability transformations, how do they influence the scalability of sustainability transformations, and, how can such sustainability transformations become durable?
Sustainability Transitions in South Africa (Routledge Studies in Sustainability)
by Najma MohamedSouth Africa’s transition to a greener economy features prominently in the long-term development vision of the country, and is an integral part of the country’s national climate change response strategy. Despite significant gains in socio-economic development since its transition to democracy, the country continues to face the triple challenges of rising unemployment, income inequality and poverty – amid a slowdown in economic growth. Sustainability transitions offer new ways of shifting the trajectory of South Africa’s resource-intensive economy towards low-carbon pathways linked to the country’s transformative development agenda. Calls for inclusive approaches to greening the South African economy, which addresses the most vulnerable in society and ensures that the benefits of sustainability innovations reach all South Africans, are becoming more pronounced as sustainable development policy reforms are being implemented. The question that should be placed centre stage in South Africa’s sustainability discourse is whether notions of justice and inclusivity are being sufficiently addressed in the design and implementation of policy and programme interventions. This book explores South Africa’s sustainability transition through reflections on critical policy, economic, technological, social and environmental drivers. It provides a synthesis of theoretical insights, including new models and concepts, and praxis through illustrations from South Africa’s growing landscape of sustainable development policies and programmes. Finally, it assesses whether these transition pathways are beginning to reconfigure the system-level structures hindering the country’s goal of ‘ensuring environmental sustainability and an equitable transition to a low-carbon economy’.
Sustainability Trends and Challenges in Civil Engineering: Select Proceedings of CTCS 2020 (Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering #162)
by Lakshman Nandagiri M. C. Narasimhan Shriram Marathe S. V. DineshThis book presents the select proceedings of the International Conference on Civil Engineering Trends and Challenges for Sustainability (CTCS 2020). The chapters discuss emerging and latest research and advances in sustainability in different areas of civil engineering, which aim to provide solutions to sustainable development. The contents are broadly divided into the following categories: construction technology and building materials, structural engineering, transportation and geotechnical engineering, environmental and water resources engineering, and RS-GIS applications. This book will be of potential interest to beginners, researchers, and professionals working in the area of sustainable civil engineering and related fields.
Sustainability Valuation of Business (SpringerBriefs in Finance)
by Yonghyup OhThis book discusses the concept of sustainability valuation, a method in which corporate social responsibility (CSR) among other factors is embedded in the cash value of a given firm. It proposes a new, holistic way of representing sustainability in a theoretical framework, and discusses the role of policy in determining a firm’s cash value. Moreover, it addresses the method’s potential, the challenges involved in its practical application, and how it can be adapted to specific cases. By shaking up the field of firm valuation in an era characterized by global sustainable development, the book makes a valuable contribution to the available literature on finance, sustainability science, and policymaking.
Sustainability, Wellbeing and the Posthuman Turn
by Thomas S. SmithThis book examines how the way we conceive of, or measure, the environment changes the way we interact with it. Thomas Smith posits that environmentalism and sustainable development have become increasingly post-political, characterised by abstraction, and quantification to an unprecedented extent. As such, the book argues that our ways of measuring both the environment, such as through sustainability metrics like footprints and Payments for Ecosystem Services, and society, through gross domestic product and wellbeing measures, play a constitutive and problematic role in how we conceive of ourselves in the world. Subsequently, as the quantified environmental approach drives a dualistic wedge between the human and non-human realms, in its final section the book puts forward recent developments in new materialism and feminist ethics of care as providing practical ways of re-founding sustainable development in a way that firmly acknowledges human-ecological relations. This book will be an invaluable reference for scholars and students in the fields of human geography, political ecology, and environmental sociology.
Sustainable: Moving Beyond ESG to Impact Investing
by Terrence KeeleyShould business and finance play larger roles in resolving the great social and environmental challenges of our time? Proponents of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing say yes. They argue that ESG financial strategies can help reverse runaway carbon emissions and fix income and gender inequalities, among other ills. ESG-integrated investments already encompass more than $120 trillion in financial assets. Are they working as promised? If not, how can they be improved?In Sustainable, a finance-industry veteran offers an insider’s look at the promises, prospects, and perils of ESG investing. Terrence Keeley argues that many ESG advocates have been overly optimistic about what it can accomplish. Divestment threats are ineffective tools for altering corporate behavior, and verifiably “good” companies do not systematically generate great returns. Most importantly, business and finance cannot cure social ills on their own: regulators, public policies, civil society, and individuals must all play specific, complementary roles to shape the future we want. Keeley provides comprehensive solutions that would promote more inclusive, sustainable growth. In particular, he recommends reallocating capital from some indexed products toward an emerging class of strategies with more verifiable social and environmental benefits. Keeley identifies dozens of alternative “impact investing” strategies that could generate true double bottom lines. He also highlights promising civic organizations with proven methodologies for achieving widely shared benefits at scale.Proposing practical, actionable, and in many cases profitable solutions to social and environmental problems, Sustainable offers an incisive vision of the roles business and finance can and should play in building a flourishing society.
Sustainable Action: Overcoming the Barriers (Routledge Studies in Sustainability)
by Christian BergIn this timely exploration of sustainable actions, Christian Berg unpacks the complexity in understanding the barriers we face in moving towards a sustainable future, providing solution perspectives for every level, from individuals to governments and supra-national organizations offering a lucid vision of a long-term and achievable goal for sustainability. While the 2030 Agenda has already set ambitious targets for humanity, it offers little guidance for concrete actions. Although much is already being done, progress seems slow and some actions aiming at sustainability may be counterproductive. Different disciplines, societal actors, governmental departments and NGOs attribute the slow progress to a number of different causes, from the corruption of politicians to the wrong incentive structures. Sustainable Action surveys all the fields involved in sustainability to provide action principles which speak to actors of different kinds, not just those professionally mandated with such changes. It offers a road map to all those who might not constantly think about systems change but who are concerned and want to contribute to a sustainable future in a meaningful way. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of sustainability issues, as well as those looking for a framework for how to change their systems at work to impact the quadruple bottom line: environment, economy, society, and future generations.
Sustainable Action and Motivation: Pathways for Individuals, Institutions and Humanity (Routledge Environmental Ethics)
by Roland MeesSustainable Action and Motivation proposes individual competencies and institutional policies that can help overcome the motivational hurdles that hamper sustainable action. Following the Paris Agreement of 2015 and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the political momentum urgently to begin the drastic reduction of greenhouse gas emissions has increased significantly. Affluent, high-income OECD countries are expected to take the lead in the global transition to a low carbon society. Given this, we need a better understanding of the motivational problems that people in affluent countries face with acting sustainably. This book investigates the above questions by analysing three fundamentally different perspectives: individuals and their motivation to act sustainably; institutions who take responsibility for issuing policies that steer us towards taking sustainable action; and humanity, each individual member of which ought to understand his or her non-sustainable behaviour in relation to the continued existence of the collective of human beings. Using theories from empirical psychology and a phenomenological approach to the research, this book will be of great interest to students and scholars of practical philosophy, psychology of motivation and environmental psychology, as well as policymakers looking for ways to implement effective policies that encourage pro-environmental behaviour.
Sustainable Advertising: How Advertising Can Support a Better Future
by Matt Bourn Sebastian MundenSustainable Advertising is a manifesto for the world's advertising industry, a case for change globally: 'to change the way we work and to change the work we make'. This is the book every advertising and marketing professional needs to make every ad a sustainable ad.Sustainable Advertising informs every stage of the advertising process with the expertise required to make advertising more sustainable, future-proofing portfolios, improving productivity, and saving money. Covering the way ads are made and distributed, to the products, services, and behaviours they promote, this book sets out the insights, best-in-class case-studies and practical guidance to accelerate change and ensure the industry is fit for purpose in the face of the climate crisis.This must-read guide sets out a clear action plan for agencies, brands, media owners, tech platforms and individuals. It includes interviews with industry leaders including Unilever, WPP, Google, ITV, Cannes Lions, Meta, Havas, PwC, Tesco, Oxford University's Said Business School, the Advertising Standards Authority and dentsu. Learn how to avoid greenwashing, how to pitch more sustainable behaviour changes to appeal to the most customers and how advertising can make the most positive contribution to the global battle against climate change.
Sustainable Agricultural Development: An Economic Perspective (Palgrave Studies in Agricultural Economics and Food Policy)
by John M. Antle Srabashi RayThis book provides a non-technical, accessible primer on sustainable agricultural development and its relationship to sustainable development based on three analytical pillars. The first is to understand agriculture as complex physical-biological-human systems. Second is the economic perspective of understanding tradeoffs and synergies among the economic, environmental and social dimensions of these systems at farm, regional and global scales. Third is the understanding of these agricultural systems as the supply side of one sector of a growing economy, interacting through markets and policies with other sectors at local, national and global scales. The first part of the book introduces the concept of sustainability and develops an analytical framework based on tradeoffs quantified using impact indicators in the economic, environmental and social domains, linking this framework to the role of agriculture in economic growth and development. Next the authors introduce the reader to the sustainability challenges of major agroecosystems in the developing and industrialized worlds. The concluding chapter discusses the design and implementation of sustainable development pathways, through the expression of consumers’ desire for sustainably produced foods on the demand side of the food system, and through policies on the supply side such as new more sustainable technologies, environmental regulation and payments for ecosystem services.
Sustainable Agricultural Development
by Mohamed Behnassi Joyce D'Silva Shabbir A. ShahidDue to many challenges (i.e. climate change, energy, water and land shortage, high demands on food, land grabbing, etc.), agriculture production potential is expected to be seriously affected; thus, increasing food insecurity and hunger in many already affected regions (especially in Africa). In this context, sustainable agriculture is highly recommended as an eco-system approach where soil, water, plants, environment and living organisms live in harmony. Innovative technologies and research should be developed to ensure sustainable agriculture and productivity using modern irrigation systems, improved varieties, improved soil quality, etc. In the meantime, the preservation of natural environment should be based on resource conservation technologies and best management practices. Sustainable Agricultural Development, not only raises the serious ethical and social issues underlying these huge environmental problems, but also aims at presenting successful experiences from all over the world in relation with sustainable farming, sustainable management of water and land resources, and innovative processes in livestock production. It also aims at providing inputs to decision making processes and encouraging the transfer of relevant know-how, technologies and expertise to different countries where similar agro-climatic conditions may exist; thus saving precious resources and promoting sustainable agricultural development as a relevant approach to tackle the food security challenge. Finally, this book focuses on the paradigmatic and policy dimensions and call for an innovative approach by analyzing the key themes in a complex and interrelated manner.
Sustainable Agricultural Systems
by Clive A. EdwardsA unique look at how the adoption of sustainable farming methods is being pursued throughout the world. This comprehensive book provides clear insight into research and education needs and the many points of view that come to bear on the issue of sustainability. Essential for agricultural leaders in research, education, conservation, policy making, and anyone else interested in creating an economically and environmentally sustainable agriculture worldwide.
Sustainable Agriculture
by Caroline Alberola Eric Lichtfouse Mireille Navarrete Philippe Debaeke Souchere VéroniqueSustainability rests on the principle that we must meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Starving people in poor nations, obesity in rich nations, increasing food prices, on-going climate changes, increasing fuel and transportation costs, flaws of the global market, worldwide pesticide pollution, pest adaptation and resistance, loss of soil fertility and organic carbon, soil erosion, decreasing biodiversity, desertification, and so on. Despite unprecedented advances in sciences allowing to visit planets and disclose subatomic particles, serious terrestrial issues about food show clearly that conventional agriculture is not suited any longer to feed humans and to preserve ecosystems. Sustainable agriculture is an alternative for solving fundamental and applied issues related to food production in an ecological way. While conventional agriculture is driven almost solely by productivity and profit, sustainable agriculture integrates biological, chemical, physical, ecological, economic and social sciences in a comprehensive way to develop new farming practices that are safe and do not degrade our environment. In that respect, sustainable agriculture is not a classical and narrow science. Instead of solving problems using the classical painkiller approach that treats only negative impacts, sustainable agriculture treats problem sources. As most actual society issues are now intertwined, global, and fast-developing, sustainable agriculture will bring solutions to build a safer world. This book gathers review articles that analyze current agricultural issues and knowledge, then propose alternative solutions. It will therefore help all scientists, decision-makers, professors, farmers and politicians who wish to build a safe agriculture, energy and food system for future generations.