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The Low-Carbon Good Life is about how to reverse and repair four interlocking crises arising from modern material consumption: the climate crisis, growing inequality, biodiversity loss and food-related ill-health. Across the world today and throughout history, good lives are characterised by healthy food, connections to nature, being active, togetherness, personal growth, a spiritual framework and sustainable consumption. A low-carbon good life offers opportunities to live in ways that will bring greater happiness and contentment. Slower ways of living await. A global target of no more than one tonne of carbon per person would allow the poorest to consume more and everyone to find our models of low-carbon good lives. But dropping old habits is hard, and large-scale impacts will need fresh forms of public engagement and citizen action. Local to national governments need to act; equally, they need pushing by the power and collective action of citizens. Innovative and engaging and written in a style that combines storytelling with scientific evidence, this book will be of great interest to students and scholars of climate change, sustainability, environmental economics and sustainable consumption, as well as non-specialist readers concerned about the climate crisis.

Focusing on the interactions between people, societies and economies, and the state of nature and the environment, this text presents readers in social science and natural science with a manual of the past, present and future of environment-society links

'A blend of clear-eyed science and poetic eloquence The Earth Only Endures follows in the tradition of Jared Diamond and E. O. Wilson. Jules Pretty too is hopeful but on the condition that we understand the nature of the self-imposed threats to our future and the rational basis for human survival. To say that this is essential reading is rather like saying that a compass is essential to navigation.' David W Orr author of Design on the Edge 'Jules Pretty's remarkable new book is both universal and parochial by turn and beautifully written. It is a philosophical inventory of what we have recentl

Contributors; Preface; Acronyms; Chapter 1 Nature and Culture: An Introduction; The State-of-the-Art; The Biodiversity and Cultural Diversity Complex; Beliefs, Cosmologies and Worldviews: Our Place in Nature; Livelihoods and Resource Management Practices: Human Dominion and Nature; Local Resource Knowledge and its Transmission; Socio-Cultural Institutions and their Role in Shaping Landscapes; Common Drivers of Diversity Loss and System Degradation; Ecocultures: Paving the Way towards Resilience; Contributions to this Volume: Mapping the Way; References; Part I: Science in Practice

Agriculture Pollutes: pesticides can destroy wildlife and some are toxic to humans; some fungicides and herbicides cause cancer. Nitrates result in the contamination of drinking water and produce the risk of the �blue-baby� syndrome in infants and of stomach cancer in adults. Agriculture produces methane, ammonia, nitrous oxide and the products of burning off, all of which add to the world's problems of acid rain, depletion of the ozone layer and global warming. This book, which focuses on the UK, the USA and Third World countries, is the first comprehensive review of agriculture and pollution: it examines the facts and assesses the relative dangers of each pollution problem. It also considers the effects of pollution on agriculture itself � crop yields are depressed and livestock damaged by various forms of pollution from all sources. The authors offer solutions to these apparently overwhelming problems, and describe existing technology which would allow us to deal with them. Originally published in 1991.

Sustainable intensification (SI) has emerged in recent years as a powerful new conceptualisation of agricultural sustainability and has been widely adopted in policy circles and debates. It is defined as a process or system where yields are increased without adverse environmental impact and without the cultivation of more land. Co-written by Jules Pretty, one of the pioneers of the concept and internationally known and respected authority on sustainable agriculture, this book sets out current thinking and debates around sustainable agriculture and intensification. It recognises that world population is increasing rapidly, so that yields must increase on finite land and other resources to maintain food security. It provides the first widely accessible overview of the concept of SI as an innovative approach to agriculture and as a key element in the transition to a green economy. It presents evidence from around the world to show how various innovations are improving yields, resilience and farm incomes, particularly for 'resource constrained' smallholders in developing countries, but also in the developed world. It shows how SI is a fundamental departure from previous models of agricultural intensification. It also highlights the particular role and potential of small-scale farmers and the fundamental importance of social and human capital in designing and spreading effective innovations.