Global Sustainability

A Nobel Cause

Author:

Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
Mario Molina, University of California, San Diego
Nicholas Stern, London School of Economics and Political Science
Veronika Huber, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
Susanne Kadner, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research

Published:

March 2010

Availability:

Available

Format:

Hardback

ISBN:

9780521769341

$86.00

USD

Hardback

Description

Arising from the 1st Interdisciplinary Nobel Laureate Symposium on Global Sustainability in Potsdam, this book brings together Nobel Laureates in Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Economics and Peace - top-level representatives from politics and NGOs, and renowned experts on sustainability. In an unparalleled attempt to address humankind's transformation to global sustainability, the authors explore the best scientific and political strategies for reconciling our civilization with its physical and ecological support systems. The book features a radically interdisciplinary approach through a broad range of contributions, covering the latest insights from climate impact research, environmental economics, energy resource analysis, ecosystems science, and other crucial fields. It is for everyone interested in sustainability issues. Intellectually stimulating articles address the complex challenges arising from the need to avoid dangerous climate change, covering both advanced mainstream concepts and novel transformational approaches.

Packed full of Nobel Prize-winning authors from the worlds of science, economics, social science and humanities
Provides a broad view of the challenges associated with achieving global climate stabilisation through an interdisciplinary approach
Gives the reader an impression of participating in a discussion with the contributors by featuring long chapters along with shorter commentaries

Product details

Published: March 2010
Format: Hardback
ISBN: 9780521769341
Length: 416 pages
Dimensions: 254 × 180 × 22 mm
Weight: 0.96kg
Contains: 60 b/w illus. 10 tables
Availability: Available

Often bought together

Related Journals

Also by this Author

Contents

Foreword Angela Merkel
Preface Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, Mario Molina, Nicholas Stern, Veronika Huber and Susanne Kadner
Prologue: save the boot room Ian McEwan
Part I. The Great Transformation:
1. Transformations of the twenty-first century: transitions to greater sustainability Murray Gell-Mann
2. Commentary: integrated sustainability and the underlying threat of urbanization Geoffrey B. West
3. Commentary: earth system analysis and taking a crude look at the whole Wolfgang Lucht
4. Making progress within and beyond borders Johan Rockström, Katrin Vohland, Wolfgang Lucht, Hermann Lotze-Campen, Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker and Tariq Banuri
5. Towards a sustainable future James P. Leape and Sarah Humphrey
Part II. Climate Stabilization and Sustainable Development:
6. Scientific understanding of climate change and associated risks – consequences for a global deal Stefan Rahmstorf, Jennifer Morgan, Anders Levermann and Karsten Sach
7. Towards a global deal on climate change Nicholas Stern and Su-Lin Garbett-Shiels
8. Commentary: the German contribution to a global deal Sigmar Gabriel
9. A 'just' climate agreement: the framework for an effective global deal Sunita Narain
10. Commentary: carbon justice and forestation – the African perspective Wangari Maathai
11. Carbon offsets, the CDM and sustainable development Diana Liverman
12. Insights into the climate challenge Rajendra Pachauri
13. Commentary: climate change – learning from the stratospheric ozone challenge Mario Molina
14. Climate change, poverty eradication and sustainable development Nitin Desai
15. Commentary: development and sustainability: conflicts and congruence Kirit Parikh
Part III. Institutional and Economic Incentives:
16. Robust options for decarbonization Thomas Bruckner, Ottmar Edenhofer, Hermann Held, Markus Haller, Michael Lüken, Nico Bauer and Nebojsa Nakicenovic
17. Price and quantity regulation for reducing greenhouse gas emissions Ottmar Edenhofer, Robert Pietzcker, Matthias Kalkuhl and Elmar Kriegler
18. Commentary: controlling climate change economically James Mirrlees
19. What is the top priority on climate change? Paul Klemperer
20. Research and technology for sustainability – a global cause Annette Schavan
21. Commentary: energy research and technology for a transition toward a more sustainable future Nebojsa Nakicenovic
Part IV. Technological Innovation and Energy Security:
22. A world powered predominantly by solar and wind energy Walter Kohn
23. Low cost 'plastic' solar cells: a dream becoming a reality Alan Heeger
24. Smart grids, smart loads and energy storage Joachim Luther
25. The SuperSmart Grid – paving the way for a completely renewable power system Antonella Battaglini, Johan Lilliestam and Gerhard Knies
26. Getting the carbon out of transportation fuels Felix Creutzig and Daniel Kammen
27. Opportunities for technological transformations and the dawn of a CO2-negative industry: from climate change to climate management? Maria Magdalena Titirici, Dieter Murach and Markus Antonietti
Part V. A Global Contract between Science and Society:
28. Promoting science, technology and innovation for sustainability in Africa Mohamed Hassan
29. Information flow: the basis for sustainable participation John Sulston
30. Commentary: educating and motivating global society Susanne Kadner
31. Commentary: democracy and participation Achim Steiner
Part VI. The Potsdam Memorandum:
32. Potsdam Memorandum
33. Commentary: the Potsdam Memorandum: a remarkable outcome of a most important conference Klaus Töpfer
Appendix: glossary
Co-authors' biographies.

Courses

Resources

Additional Information

About the authors

Contributors

Angela Merkel, Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, Mario Molina, Nicholas Stern, Veronika Huber, Susanne Kadner, Ian McEwan, Murray Gell-Mann, Geoffrey B. West, Wolfgang Lucht, Johan Rockström, Katrin Vohland, Hermann Lotze-Campen, Ernst-Ulrich von Weizsäcker, Tariq Banuri, James P. Leape, Sarah Humphrey, Stefan Rahmstorf, Jennifer Morgan, Anders Levermann, Karsten Sach, Su-Lin Garbett-Shiels, Sigmar Gabriel, Sunita Narain, Wangari Maathai, Diana Liverman, Rajendra Pachauri, Nitin Desai, Kirit Parikh, Thomas Bruckner, Ottmar Edenhofer, Hermann Held, Markus Haller, Michael Lüken, Nico Bauer, Nebojsa Nakicenovic, Robert Pietzcker, Matthias Kalkuhl, Elmar Kriegler, James Mirrlees, Paul Klemperer, Annette Schavan, Walter Kohn, Alan Heeger, Joachim Luther, Antonella Battaglini, Johan Lilliestam, Gerhard Knies, Felix Creutzig, Daniel Kammen, Maria Magdalena Titirici, Dieter Murach, Markus Antonietti, Mohamed Hassan, John Sulston, Achim Steiner, Klaus Töpfer

Editors

Hans Joachim Schellnhuber , Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
Hans Joachim Schellnhuber is Professor of Theoretical Physics at Potsdam University and Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). He is also Chair of the German Advisory Council on Global Change and was appointed Chief Government Advisor on Climate and Related Issues during Germany's G8 and EU presidencies in 2007. From 2001–5 he was Research Director of the British Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research. He is an elected member of, inter alia, the German National Academy (Leopoldina) and the US National Academy of Sciences. In 2004 he was awarded a CBE by Queen Elizabeth II, and in 2007 received the German Environment Prize.
Mario Molina , University of California, San Diego
Mario Molina studied physical chemistry and obtained his PhD at the University of California, Berkeley. In 1974, well before the first measurements of the Antarctic ozone hole, he co-authored a paper that described how chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) gases, widely used in industry at that time, destroy the atmospheric ozone layer. In 1995 Molina was honoured with the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on ozone depletion. As Professor of Chemistry and of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Molina continued his research on man-made changes in atmospheric chemistry. In 2004 he joined the faculty at the University of California in San Diego.
Nicholas Stern , London School of Economics and Political Science
Nicholas Stern is I. G. Patel Professor of Economics and Government at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and Chairman of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment. Stern was head of the UK Government Economic Service from 2003–7 and Chief Economist of the World Bank from 2000–3 and of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development from 1994–99. He authored the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, reporting to the UK Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2005–7. He was knighted for services to economics in 2004, and was appointed to the UK House of Lords as Lord Stern of Brentford in 2007.
Veronika Huber , Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
Veronika Huber is Scientific Personal Assistant to Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. Previously, she worked on her doctoral thesis at the Institute for Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries in Berlin and gained experience in climate policy at the UN Environmental Programme in Nairobi. She studied biology at École Normale Supérieure in Paris and at the universities of Konstanz and Potsdam.
Susanne Kadner , Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
Susanne Kadner has a research background in biology, chemistry and oceanography. She has worked for the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) in London, the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU), and as G8 consultant to Hans Joachim Schellnhuber in his position as German Chief Government Advisor on Climate and Related Issues. She now works in the Technical Support Unit of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Working Group III.

Products and services

About us