ABSTRACT

Life on Earth for humanity and our ecosystems is at a point of great change. There is much to be learnt about previous great disruptions. The key words are *adaptation* and *transformation*. Most international companies operate across multiple social and environmental geographies, so they know this intellectual and practical landscape. And for many governments the challenges of social and environmental justice are also paramount – not least because equitable societies are best for business, and best for human well-being.The Necessary Transition addresses the many transitions taking place around the world: from high- to low-carbon economies, from gross inequality to egalitarianism, from massive human rights abuses to socially just societies, and from high corruption to societies with high social cohesion and integrity.The book brings together leading international researchers and practitioners to share their knowledge and expertise, and offers answers to many of the pressing questions that must be addressed in the journey towards a sustainable enterprise economy – an absolutely necessary transition for humanity.Contributors include: Sara Parkin, Founder-Director and Trustee of the UK's Forum for the Future; Bill Champion, Managing Director, Rio Tinto Coal Australia; and Mark Swilling, co-author of "Just Transitions" and Academic Director of the Sustainability Institute, South Africa.The key question is: "Is a transition to a sustainable future possible within the logic of conventional capitalism and 20th-century models of development?" This book provides radical perspectives from varying entry points and is essential reading for academics and practitioners interested in how we plan, speed and scale such necessary transitions.

chapter |12 pages

Introduction

chapter 1|28 pages

Contested futures

Conceptions of the next long-term development cycle

chapter 2|10 pages

Radical openness and contextualisation

Reflections on a decade of learning for sustainability at the Sustainability Institute

chapter 3|29 pages

The devil is in the synergy

The exhibitions at MOSET: a hypothetical museum of human transitions

chapter 5|21 pages

Occupation or action

Are they more or less than the sum of their parts?

chapter 6|12 pages

The pillars of peace

Identifying the elements that allow human potential to flourish

chapter 11|16 pages

Industry transformation through sustainable entrepreneurship

Examples in the apparel and energy industries

chapter 13|11 pages

Sustainable development

Continuing to re–earn our license to operate

chapter 14|22 pages

Currencies of transition

Transforming money to unleash sustainability