Population, Technology, and Lifestyle

In 1987 the World Commission on Environment and Development, chaired by Gro Harlem Brundtland, issued a trail-blazing report that detailed the urgent need for achieving global sustainable development. Building upon the work of the Brundtland Commission, Population, Technology, and Lifestyle suggests changes that can and must be made if sustainability is to move beyond concept to reality. Three of the factors that most directly affect the potential for sustainability - population, technology, and lifestyle - are discussed and analyzed in-depth. In addition, the authors examine global patterns of income distribution and the pressing need for greater equality between the northern and southern hemispheres. The authors, all leading scholars in their fields, argue that traditional means of economic growth which rely on an ever-increasing use of energy and natural materials cannot be sustained. They advocate an imaginative pursuit of economic ends that are less resource intensive and allow for increases in quality of life without corresponding decreases in environmental quality. The authors contend that biophysical factors set firm limits on further expansion of the global economy and that the choice we face is not whether society should change but whether we will be able to plan for an orderly transition before physical limits and environmental damage dictate the timing and course of the transition.