The World's Search for Sustainable Development: A Perspective from the Global South

ISBN-13: 9781107122666 / Angielski / Twarda / 2015 / 334 str.

Mukul Sanwal

Opis

This text traces the evolution of sustainable development and climate change from the time it emerged in international consultations and agreements. The three sections of the book, focusing on the framework, climate change and sustainable development, seek to cover the essentials of the politics of natural resource usage at the global level. The book explores the evolution of sustainable development and climate change within the framework of the United Nations, and the way the concept has been defined through intergovernmental meetings, agreements and consensus within the multilateral system. It also explores the best ways of reducing the risk to the planet while enabling societies to pursue sustainable development paths. The challenges call for a transformation of social systems to facilitate a broadly acceptable change. The book also explores the adoption of low-carbon models different from the high-carbon socio-technical systems and related social practices.

Spis treści

Preface; Acknowledgments; Abbreviations; Introduction; 1. Social dimension of sustainability; Part I. Consumption in an Unequal World: Framing International Cooperation: 2. Geopolitics of the global environment; 3. Natural science - policy - institutions interface; 4. Focus on developing countries; 5. Limitations of multilateral environmental agreements; Part II. Climate Policy: Global to National: 6. Political origins of climate policy; 7. Questions on the framework; 8. Burden shifting rather than burden sharing; 9. Development of a shared vision; 10. The middle class and global ecological limits; 11. The new climate regime; Part III. Sustainable Development: National to Global: 12. Conceptual and institutional foundation; 13. Politics within the United Nations; 14. Limitations of the building blocks of sustainability; 15. Use of natural resources; 16. Distribution of natural resources; Part III. Consumption in a More Equal World: Shaping Societal Functions: 17. Geoeconomics of human well-being; 18. Social science - policy - society interface; 19. Reframing the 'common concern' from a physical to a social problem; 20. Developing a shared global vision; Part IV. Geopolitics to Geoeconomics: Rural-Urban Divide, Rather Than between Countries: 21. Urban areas: sustainable development and human well-being; 22. Rural areas: climate change, fragile states and human security; 23. Global sustainable development goals; 24. Transformative impact of the re-emergence of China; Part V. The Asian Century: 25. Moving from ideas to reality will depend on how Asia structures its urban future; Index.