The Sustainable Manifesto

Book excerpt: In The Sustainable Manifesto, Kersten Reich describes in a concise and memorable way the necessary actions that humans need to take to live sustainably and combat climate change. Are we sufficiently capable of changing our behaviour towards sustainability? What do we have to do in a more sustainable way, and how? The Sustainable Manifesto considers questions around behaviour-change and action for sustainability and connects this thinking to current research in both the natural and human sciences. Reich begins by addressing the most important risks to sustainability and looks in particular at climate change, biodiversity, land use and global phosphorus and nitrogen cycles. He goes on to identify the main causes that have led to the current crisis: specifically the human desire for expansion, growth in all areas, progress and competitive advantages that have forced consideration of the common good into the background. In this vein, the author highlights how economics and politics are two driving forces for which sustainability is difficult to comprehend, going against their basic principles of a liberal and now neo-liberal expansion of all markets. Finally, Reich demonstrates how sustainability could be possible if we reprioritize our life goals and face the reality of an ecological crisis and the necessary transformation of society in order to save our planet. Innovative and accessible, this book will be of interest to students and researchers of sustainability, theories of learning, human behaviour, as well as those who are looking for answers on how to fight for a sustainable future.