The Age of Sustainable Development Paperback – 10 Apr 2015

Review

Jeff Sachs's admirable book explains what sustainable development means, why it matters, and our history in relation to our environment. It shows how the pattern of growth we have followed has placed intense strains on our planet and generated severe risks to our lives and livelihoods. Above all, it explains clearly where we can go and how to get there. It describes a potential future of great attraction in terms of wellbeing, community and prosperity, properly understood. It should, and I hope it will, strengthen both the understanding of the great choices we face and the resolve to act. It is a splendid achievement. -- Lord Nicholas Stern, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment This terrific book stands out for its breadth, clarity, mastery of detail, honest discussion of complex matters, and its author's practical experience and good sense. It is actually ten terrific books under one cover because its accounts of economics, history, health, development, education, gender issues, food, climate change and biological diversity are among the best available. If you want to understand the modern world, and if you have room on your shelf for only one book, this is your book. -- Jared Diamond, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Guns, Germs, and Steel There are very few authors that can so effectively rally the masses around an important cause--one that in this case concerns our collective future. There are still too few leaders with knowledge about global sustainable development challenges to affect the scalable changes that are needed. Professor Sachs's book is a comprehensive summary of complex issues, but it breaks them down and makes them digestible and understandable while making the imperative clear. It will clearly contribute significantly in closing the gap between science and policy, and hopefully serve as a catalyst for action. -- Hans Vestberg, CEO, Ericsson A comprehensive and incisive overview of some of the biggest challenges facing the world today and further confirmation, if it were needed, that Sachs remains one of the most astute and authoritative observers of the age of sustainable development. -- Paul Polman, CEO, Unilever As the concept of sustainable development comes of age, Jeffrey Sachs takes us on a journey from the intellectual and normative origins to the science of complexity which define today's development choices. A compelling and often personal and engaged narrative, The Age of Sustainable Development reads like a "looking glass" through which to glimpse the future--a future still characterised by more questions than answers as to how 9 billion will--together--govern the sustainable development of our planet. -- Under-Secretary-General Achim Steiner of the United Nations, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme In this era marked by geopolitical and ecological crises, unspeakable structural violence and unprecedented inequality, on the one hand, and breathtaking advances in science and technology and untold opportunities, on the other, a new narrative for social, economic and environmental justice is urgently needed. Prof. Sachs, distinguished thinker, commentator and activist, charts a clear and compelling path, both moral and scientific, which cuts neatly through the increasing complexity and interdependence to the realization of a holistic vision of sustainable development. A very timely handbook to inform and empower all those who have a stake in the post-2015 debate on the future of our planet. -- Michel Sidib , Executive Director, UNAIDS --Michel Sidib

It is, in my view, the best, most comprehensive and most articulate exposition of sustainable development ever written. --Nature

About the Author

Jeffrey D. Sachs is a world-renowned economics professor, leader in sustainable development, senior UN advisor, best-selling author, and syndicated columnist. He serves as the director of the Earth Institute, Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development, and professor of health policy and management at Columbia University. He is special advisor to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon of the United Nations on the Millennium Development Goals, and he held the same position under Secretary-General Kofi Annan. He is director of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network as well as cofounder and director of the Millennium Villages Project. He has authored three New York Times best-sellers in the past seven years: The End of Poverty; Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet; and The Price of Civilization. His most recent book is To Move the World: JFK's Quest for Peace. Ban Ki-moon is the secretary-general of the United Nations, an office he assumed in 2007. He was previously the foreign minister of the Republic of Korea.