This unique title draws together in one volume some of the best thinking to date on the pressing social and environmental challenges we face as a society. These are the Top 50 Sustainability Books as voted for by the University of Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership’s alumni network of over 3,000 senior leaders from around the world. In addition to profiles of all 50 titles, many of the authors share their most recent reflections on the state of the world and the ongoing attempts by business, government and civil society to create a more sustainable future.

Many of these authors have become household names in the environmental, social and economic justice movements — from Rachel Carson, Ralph Nader and E.F. Schumacher to Vandana Shiva, Muhammad Yunus and Al Gore. Others, such as Aldo Leopold, Thomas Berry and Manfred Max-Neef, are relatively undiscovered gems, whose work should be much more widely known.

The profiled books tackle our most vexing global challenges, including globalisation (Globalization and Its Discontents, No Logo), climate change (Heat, The Economics of Climate Change) and poverty (The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, Development as Freedom).

Some of these featured thought-leaders are highly critical of the status quo (e.g. David Korten, Eric Schlosser and Joel Bakan), while others suggest evolutionary ways forward (e.g. Amory Lovins, Hunter Lovins, Paul Hawken and Jonathon Porritt). Some place their faith in technological solutions (e.g. Janine Benyus, Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker), while others are upbeat about the potential of business to be a force for good (e.g. John Elkington, Ricardo Semler, William McDonough and Michael Braungart).

By featuring these and other seminal thinkers, The Top 50 Sustainability Books distils a remarkable collective intelligence — one that provides devastating evidence of the problems we face as a global society, yet also inspiring examples of innovative solutions; it explores our deepest fears and our highest hopes for the future. It is a must-read for anyone who wants to tap into the wisdom of our age.

Introduction

Polly Courtice, Director, Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership

THE TOP 50 SUSTAINABILITY BOOKS

1 A Sand County Almanac Aldo Leopold (1949)

2 Silent Spring Rachel Carson (1962)

3 Unsafe At Any Speed Ralph Nader (1965)

4 The Population Bomb Paul L. Ehrlich (1968)

5 Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth R. Buckminster Fuller (1969)

6 The Limits to Growth Donella H. Meadows, Dennis L. Meadows, Jørgen Randers and William W. Behrens III (1972) FIND OUT MORE / BUY: paperback | hardback

7 Small Is Beautiful E.F. Schumacher (1973)

8 Gaia James Lovelock (1979)

9 The Turning Point Fritjof Capra (1982)

10 Our Common Future (‘The Brundtland Report’) World Commission onEnvironment and Development (1987)

11 The Dream of the Earth Thomas Berry (1988)

12 A Fate Worse Than Debt Susan George (1988)

13 Staying Alive Vandana Shiva (1989)

14 Blueprint for a Green Economy David Pearce, Anil Markandya and Edward B. Barbier (1989) FIND OUT MORE / BUY

15 For the Common Good Herman Daly and John B. Cobb Jr (1989)

16 Human Scale Development Manfred Max-Neef (1989)

17 Changing Course Stephan Schmidheiny and Business Council for Sustainable Development (BCSD) (1992)

18 The Ecology of Commerce Paul Hawken (1993)

19 Maverick Ricardo Semler (1993)

20 When Corporations Rule the World David C. Korten (1995) FIND OUT MORE / BUY

21 Biomimicry Janine M. Benyus (1997)

22 Cannibals with Forks John Elkington (1997)

23 The Hungry Spirit Charles Handy (1997)

24 Banker to the Poor Muhammad Yunus (1998)

25 The Crisis of Global Capitalism George Soros (1998)

26 Factor Four Ernst von Weizsäcker, Amory B. Lovins and L. Hunter Lovins (1998) FIND OUT MORE / BUY

27 False Dawn John Gray (1998)

28 Development as Freedom Amartya Sen (1999)

29 No Logo Naomi Klein (1999)

30 Natural Capitalism Paul Hawken, Amory B. Lovins and L. Hunter Lovins (1999)

31 Business as Unusual Anita Roddick (2000)

32 The Mystery of Capital Hernando de Soto (2000)

33 The Civil Corporation Simon Zadek (2001) FIND OUT MORE / BUY

34 Fast Food Nation Eric Schlosser (2001)

35 The Skeptical Environmentalist Bjørn Lomborg (2001)

36 Cradle to Cradle William McDonough and Michael Braungart (2002)

37 Globalization and its Discontents Joseph E. Stiglitz (2002)

38 The Corporation Joel Bakan (2004)

39 Presence Peter Senge, C. Otto Scharmer, Joseph Jaworski and Betty Sue Flowers (2004)

40 The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid C.K. Prahalad (2004)

41 The River Runs Black Elizabeth C. Economy (2004)

42 Capitalism as if the World Matters Jonathon Porritt (2005) FIND OUT MORE / BUY

43 Capitalism at the Crossroads Stuart L. Hart (2005)

44 Collapse Jared Diamond (2005)

45 The End of Poverty Jeffrey D. Sachs (2005)

46 The Chaos Point Ervin Laszlo (2006)

47 Heat George Monbiot (2006)

48 An Inconvenient Truth Al Gore (2006)

49 When the Rivers Run Dry Fred Pearce (2006) FIND OUT MORE / BUY

50 The Economics of Climate Change Nicholas Stern (2007)

Conclusion

Mike Peirce, Deputy Director, Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership

About the author

About CPSL

Wayne Visser is Founder and CEO of the thinktank CSR International, as well as Senior Associate of the University of Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership. He is the author/editor of eight books, including six on sustainable and responsible

business, among themLandmarks for Sustainability(Greenleaf Publishing, 2009), Making a Difference (VDM, 2008) and The A to Z of Corporate Social Responsibility (John Wiley, 2007).

Before getting his PhD in Corporate Social Responsibility (Nottingham University, UK), Wayne was Director of Sustainability Services for KPMG and Strategy Analyst for Capgemini in South Africa. He has an MSc in Human Ecology (Edinburgh University,

UK) and a Bachelor of Business Science in Marketing (Cape Town University, South Africa).

Wayne lives in Cambridge, UK, and enjoys art, writing poetry, spending time outdoors and travelling in his home continent of Africa. His personal website is www.waynevisser.com.

Oliver Dudok van Heel

Research associate

Oliver Dudok van Heel is passionate about finding solutions to the sustainability challenges we face as a society. He believes that by bringing together human ingenuity with respect for our wonderful planet and its people we can develop solutions and create a planet worth living for.

He tries to make this vision reality in different ways. Oliver founded Living Values to help integrate sustainability within corporations. He is a tutor on the University of Cambridge’s Postgraduate Certificate on Sustainable Business and a facilitator of the Be The Change Symposium. He helped launch the Lewes Pound, a local currency, to support the local community and reduce its carbon footprint, as part of the Transition Towns movement. He is also a co-founder of Transition Training and Consulting.

Oliver speaks English, French, Dutch, German, Spanish and Portuguese and holds a Master’s of Law and an Insead MBA.

Oliver lives in Sussex with his wife and three children.