At a time of increasingly rapid environmental deterioration, sustainability is the most important issue facing the world today. Can we create a sustainable society? What would that mean? How should we go about doing it? How can we bring about such a profound change in the way things are organized? This book tackles these questions directly. It goes beyond rhetoric about “sustainable development” to explain the deeper issues in a way that is accessible and interesting to the non-specialist reader. It covers the development of the concept of sustainability within its broader historical context; the contemporary debates about what sustainability implies and how to achieve it; and the obstacles to reaching the goal and prospects for overcoming them.

is a research fellow and lecturer at the University of Surrey. He is coordinator of a five-nation European research project on tax reform.

Introduction
Part I: Past Progress and its Discontents
From Muir to Meadow
Sustainability Emerging
From Rio to Kyoto
Part II: Present
What does 'Sustainable Development' Mean?
Taking Sustainability in Economics
Putting a Price on the Planet
The Ethics of Sustainability
Part III: Future
The End of Sustainability
Bibliography, Index