Without resolute counteraction, climate change will overstretch many societies' adaptive capacities within the coming decades. This could result in destabilization and violence, jeopardizing national and international security to a new degree. However, climate change could also unite the international community. This is provided that we recognize climate change as a threat to humankind and so set the course for adopting a dynamic and globally coordinated climate policy. If we fail to do so, climate change will draw ever-deeper lines of division and conflict in international relations, triggering numerous conflicts between and within countries over the distribution of resources - especially water and land, and over the management of migration, or over compensation payments between the countries mainly responsible for climate change and those countries most affected by its destructive effects. With Climate Change as a Security Risk, WBGU has compiled a flagship report on an issue that quite rightly is rising rapidly up the international political agenda. The authors pull no punches on the likelihood of increasing tensions and conflicts in a climatically constrained world and spotlight places where possible conflicts may flare up in the 21st century unless climate change is checked. The report makes it clear that climate policy is preventative security policy.

Georges Benko "Societies are much messier than our theories of them" Michael Mann The Sources of Social Power 1 Towards a unified social theory Why are there communication problems between the different disciplines of the social sciences? And why should there be so much misunderstanding? Most probably because the encounter of several disciplines is in fact the encounter of several different histories, and therefore of several different cultures, each interpreting the other according to the code dictated by its own culture. Inevitably geographers view other disciplines through their own cultural filter, and even a benevolent view remains 'ethnocentric'. It was in order to avoid such ethnocentricity that Femand Braudel called for more unity among the social sciences in 1958 : "l wish the social sciences . . . would stop discussing their respective differences so much . . . and instead look for common ground . . . on which to reach their first agreement. Personally I would call these ways : quantification, spatial awareness and 'longue duree'". In its place at the center of the social sciences, geography reduces all social reality to its spatial dimensions. Unfortunately, as a discipline, it considers itself all too often to be in a world of its own. There is a need in France for a figure like Vidal de la Blanche who could refocus attention away from issues of time and space, towards space and social reality. Geographic research will only take a step forward once it learns to address the problems facing all the sciences.

Anyone serious about integrating environmental factors into planning and policy making will gain new insights and ideas from Fischer s book on SEA; and students, teachers and practitioners of the subject will find the book essential. Leonard Ortolano, Professor at Stanford University, USA Fischer s book demystifies the process and substantive analytical dimensions of SEA. Offering solidly documented empirical evidence of the value of SEA to development, the knowledge captured in this book is a great contribution to the practice. Linda Ghanime, Environmental Operations and Policy Adviser, United Nations Development Program This book is an invaluable reference text for SEA practitioners. I recommend it to everyone! Xu He, Professor and Director of the Strategic Environmental Assessment Center at Nankai University, China Fischer gives a concise and wellstructured account of SEA as it is used today. Readers thus will gain important insights into SEA: why it is important, how it works, and what it can and should achieve. Professor Thomas Bunge, Federal Environment Agency, Germany Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is a fast-growing and rapidly evolving professional field driven by both advances in theory and practice and by regulatory requirements in Europe, North America, Australasia, South Africa and increasingly across Asia. However, to date, analysis of existing practice and associated reporting has remained far from systematic and there has been a clear need for a comprehensive textbook to facilitate teaching, learning and practice in this burgeoning field. This textbook, the first of its kind, provides for a state-ofthe-art review of SEA theory and practice and promotes a more systematic approach to SEA. It is written for a wide student, professional and academic audience and aims particularly at supporting the development of SEA modules in undergraduate and postgraduate planning, environmental assessment, engineering and law courses. It provides an overview of the fundamental principles and rules of SEA, reports systematically on international SEA practice and theory and pushes the envelope by developing the theory. Supporting material includes boxed examples and case studies from around the world, extra reading suggestions and a glossary of terms. This is the essential book for all students, professionals and academics in SEA and EIA and follow-up worldwide.

This book contains a collection of cutting-edge chapters that explore various connections between urban living, sexuality and sexual desire around the world. The key themes featured address a number of topical issues including: the controversies and debates raging around the evolution, defining patterns and appropriate regulation of commercial sex zones and markets in the urban landscape how gay public spaces, districts and 'gay villages' emerged and developed in various towns and cities around the world how changing attitudes to, and the usage of urban sexual spaces, as depicted in iconic television series such as Sex and the City and Queer as Folk, reflect the reality of working women's or gay men's changing life experiences. With detailed case studies, and a strong interdisciplinary appeal, this book will be a valuable reference for postgraduates and advanced students in the fields of cultural studies as well as human, urban and social geography. This book was previously published as a special issue of the journal Urban Studies.

This book examines the methods and approaches currently being taken by the global community of youth in influencing environmental policymakers of the United Nations. It is divided into two sections: The Groundswell Approach, exploring the use of social media and mass gatherings aimed at raising public awareness of the issue of climate change; and The Direct Approach, a participatory methodology that encourages collaboration directly with the policymaker and youth in the discussions and creation of progressive climate policy for the world. The book also delivers a detailed analysis of the United Nations' only database of youth-produced documentary films related to climate change research, impacts, and proposed solutions: the Youth Climate Report, arguing that film is a powerful and effective communications tool for the policymaker. The book proposes two frameworks and explores their in-field applications for successful youth climate activism.

The experience of highly industrialized countries demonstrates that single-minded pursuit of economic develop ment is self-defeating because, by disregarding the other components of what is cxmnonly called "the quality of life," it creates conditions which are not acceptable to large sectors of the population. In the recent past a number of projects, for example, major darns, have had unexpectedly deleterious social, envir onmental and health consequences. As a result, many govern ment department and agencies are investigating the impacts of specific projects and are examining the role impact analysis could play in project planning. The process of environmental impact analysis has been developed, tested and institutionalized in several countries. The objective of the process is a prior identification and definition of likely environmental impacts of projects such as public works, industrial developments and tourist develop ments, as well as the impact of policies and legislative proposals. The environmental impact analysis process also includes the definition of alternative courses of action which would achieve comparable economic objectives while eliminatir .. g some or all of the detrimental environmental consequences. Identification of preventive or precautionary measures, which would minimize the unavoidable impacts, fonn an integral part of the process. The aim should be for a balanced appraisal in which economic, technical, social, environmental and health aspects are fully evaluated. Thus viewed, environmental impact analysis emerges as one of the most powerful planning tools for the prevention of environmental pollution and degradation."

"The Larkin and Peters book would be especially helpful for faculty and students outside geography who would need general information concerning concepts and trends in the field. Recommended for academic libraries at all levels, as well as large public libraries." Choice

"The sociology of hazardous waste, risk, and disasters is a relatively new discipline with an increasing volume of empirical research by scholars. Francis O. Adeola focuses this book on hazardous and toxic wastes releases, industrial toxic disasters, contamination of communities and the environment, and the subsequent adverse health effects among exposed populations. He explains the emerging sociological study of risk, natural, and technological disasters, and he reviews the accumulated body of knowledge in the field up-to-date. This groundbreaking work integrates sociological perspectives with perspectives from other disciplines in the discussion of the problems posed by technological hazards both in advanced industrialized societies and in underdeveloped world"--

This collection of essays and design case studies explores a range of ideas and best practices for adapting to dynamic waterfront conditions while incorporating nature conservation in urbanized coastal areas. The editors have curated a selection of works contributed by leading practitioners in the fields of coastal science, community resilience, habitat restoration, sustainable landscape architecture and floodplain management. By highlighting ocean-friendly innovations and strategies being applied in coastal cities today, this book illustrates ways to cohabit with many other species who share the waterfront with us, feed in salt marshes, bury their eggs on sandy beaches, fly south over cities along the Atlantic Flyway, or attach themselves to an oyster reef. This book responds to the need for inventive, practical, and straightforward ways to weather a changing climate while being responsible shoreline stewards.

Almost all aspects of modern politics have been deeply Europeanized, yet we know surprisingly little about how the EU affects the inner workings of national government. This book conceptualizes the profound Europeanization of British environmental government and policy both as a lagged response to European integration and as an important determinant of Britain's contribution to that process. By combining political theories of the EU with new empirical research, Andrew Jordan offers a genuinely fresh perspective on the evolution of modern European governance.

In a world where trust in politicians, corporations and the processes that determine our lives continues to dwindle, this innovative book brings together research, case studies and stories that begin to answer a central question for society: How we can create organisations, institutions, groups and societies that can nurture trusting relationships with one another and among individuals?Something to Believe In provides a fresh take on the corporate responsibility debate, based as it is on the work of key global thinkers on corporate social responsibility, along with a raft of work developed from collaborations between the New Academy of Business and the United Nations Volunteers, UK Department for International Development and TERI-Europe in countries such as Brazil, Nicaragua, Ghana, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Lebanon, Nigeria, the Philippines and South Africa. The focus is on business, and particularly how deeper, more systemic changes to current ways of understanding and undertaking business can and have been enacted in both developed countries and in nations where the Western concept of CSR means nothing. The market-based model of economic thinking-the increasingly distrusted globalisation project-which threatens to sweep all before it is challenged by many of the contributions to this book.The book tells stories such as the mobilization of civil society in Ghana to bring business to account; the reorientation of a business school to focus on values; the life-cycle of ethical chocolate; the accountability of the diamond business in a war zone; the need to reinvent codes of conduct for women workers in the plantations and factories of Nicaragua; a Philippine initiative to economically empower former Moslem liberation fighters; and the development of local governance practices in a South African eco-village.The book is split into four sections. "Through Some Looking Glasses" contains short, thought-provoking pieces about the issues of trust, belief and change from writers including Thabo Mbeki, Malcolm McIntosh and a reprinted piece from E.M. Forster. Section Two asks how it will be possible to believe in our corporations and provides new approaches from around the world on how space is being opened up to found businesses that are able to create trust. Section Three examines the role of auditing in fostering trust. Corporations continue to attempt to engender trust through their activities in philanthropy, reporting and voluntary programmes. But, post-Enron et al., even the most highly praised corporate mission statements are tarnished. Can social and environmental audits of corporate reports, codes and practices assuage our doubts about boardroom democracy? Section Four examines alternative forms of accountability, transparency and governance from around the world and offers some different ways of thinking about the practice of creating trust in society.Something to Believe In provides a host of fascinating suggestions about redefining and renewing the underlying deal between society and its organizations. It will become a key text for students, thinkers and practitioners in the field of corporate responsibility.

"

People and Environment, A Global Approach"

provides an introduction to the main areas of environmental concern for geographers, environmental scientists and planners at the beginning of the twenty-first century. These include:

• Pollution of the atmosphere and its impact on our climate;
• the exploitation of the oceans;
• management and supply of fresh water;
• degradation of the land, and
• biodiversity, and the need to maintain genetic diversity.

The book argues that our knowledge and understanding of the environment is now so great that we can predict with considerable accuracy where the skills of science and technology need to be focused in order to prevent severe environmental damage from occurring. Achieving successful management of the environment has become dependent upon active participation of a society prepared to pay for a high quality of life, and the willingness of our elected politicians to legislate and enforce the very highest standards of environmental management.

Key features:

• Provides students with the details and overview they require to be able to make informed judgements on environmental problems and possible solutions
• Global case studies from countries in different stages of socio-economic development provide a wide and heterogeneous picture of the environmental issues facing the world today
• Takes a broad socio-economic and historical perspective that places environmental changes, problems and solutions within a broader context

This book will be essential reading for students of geography, environmental studies/science and land use planners, and will also contribute valuable information forclimatology, biogeography, hydrology, land economy and forestry students.

Gareth Jones is Senior Lecturer in Geography at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. His other books include: "Vegetation Productivity "(1979); "The Conservation of Ecosystems and Species "(1987); Collins Reference Dictionary "Environmental Science "(1990) and "Resources, Society and Environmental Management "(1997).

Although sustainability efforts in business are still a work in progress, it is increasingly clear that key elements of a new generation of enterprises will be radically different from those of our contemporary modern industrial economy. The core distinctions between what currently exists and what is being created are communicated in this book through the compelling metaphor of "Ants, Galileo, and Gandhi."This collection, developed from The Natural Step's conference on Sustainability and Innovation in 2002, provides radical ideas for generating a new perspective on the dynamics of business systems. 'Ants' symbolize the lessons to be learned from nature and the dependence of individual beings on broader, complex systems. "Galileo" embodies brilliance in perceiving and proving that the current paradigm is flawed. "Gandhi" exemplifies exceptional compassion in fighting for fundamental change. All of these attributes are increasingly relevant in a world where, globally, we are experiencing both a steady decline in life-supporting resources and rising demands. Recognition of these challenges is sparking innovation within the private sector where the first glimmers of systemic change can be seen. The book examines the emergence of 21st-century enterprises that recognize their reliance on broad social and ecological systems ("ants"), incorporate sparks of genius rooted in rigorous analyses ('Galileo'), and acknowledge the importance of compassion and determination within any endeavour ('Gandhi'). With contributions from Ray Anderson, Gretchen Daily, Karl-Henrik Robert, Alois Flatz, Allen White and many more, the book illustrates that pioneering companies recognize that new opportunities emerge from recognizing the broader systems on which all businesses rely. Efforts to work with ecological and social dynamics of vibrancy and resilience offer a new space for innovation. Companies are stepping into this space and exploring innovative approaches to developing sustainability-focused products, operations and strategies. These sustainability-inspired business efforts are considering new ways to address human needs and desires. The most promising approaches are based on systems thinking and recognition of the linkages between 'upstream' and 'downstream' effects of actions. Understanding the undesired 'downstream' impacts of a firm's practices draws attention 'upstream'. This assessment highlights the most expedient approach: to design these impacts out of enterprises from the very start.The book is divided into five sections to present a set of theories emerging about sustainability and its application to: business strategy and operations; financial-sector practices; accountability and reporting drivers; and organizational change pathways. Together, these sections illustrate the current range of sustainability theories and applications."Ants, Galileo, and Gandhi" will be essential reading for both academics looking for robust teaching material, practitioners looking for inspiration and the general reader interested in exploring the state of the art in the realignment of 21st-century business."

To reduce emissions and address climate change, we need to invest in renewables and rapidly decarbonise our energy networks. However, decarbonisation is often seen as a technical project, detached from questions of politics and social justice. What if this is leading to unfair transitions, in which some people bear the costs of change while others benefit? In this timely and expansive book, Ed Atkins asks: are we getting decarbonisation right? And how could it be made better for people and communities? In doing so, this book proposes a different type of energy transition. One that prioritises and takes opportunities to do better – to provide better jobs, community ownership and improve people’s homes and lives.

Land is embedded in a multitude of material and cultural contexts, through which the human experience of landscape emerges. Ethnographers, with their participative methodologies, long-term co-residence, and concern with the quotidian aspects of the places where they work, are well positioned to describe landscapes in this fullest of senses. The contributors explore how landscapes become known primarily through movement and journeying rather than stasis. Working across four continents, they explain how landscapes are constituted and recollected in the stories people tell of their journeys through them, and how, in turn, these stories are embedded in landscaped forms.

Contents:
1. Sustainability and Social Policy 2. Sustainable Development: The Policy Response 3. Local Agenda 21 4. Green Ideas 5. Environmental Health 6. Housing and Urban Development 7. Food 8. Work 9. One World

Kenneth Gardens is Durban’s largest low-income municipal housing estate. Initially built for `poor whites’, Kenneth Gardens today is arguably one of the most socially diverse living spaces in the city. While the estate is significant in terms of its size, history and social make-up, very little has been written about it. This book provides a history of Kenneth Gardens through the oral history stories of its residents. It is a rich tapestry of narratives as told by people who resided in Kenneth Gardens during apartheid, those that moved into the estate when the Group Areas Act began to be defunct, as well as stories from residents who have more recently moved into the estate. Although this book is about Kenneth Gardens itself, it is also about the history of social housing, identity formation and change, urban planning, and state regulation. Many of the story tellers reveal intimate moments of struggle in their lives. But what emerges more strongly than vulnerability and hardship is embedded resilience and adaptability. Through the narratives we come to understand how a subsidised rental apartment becomes home, and how relative strangers can form a neighbourhood based on shared circumstances, proximity and an urban planning design that fosters familiarity and belonging. The narratives are accompanied by a unique photo essay created by acclaimed photographer Cedric Nunn. The authors invite readers to dwell in the everyday lives and memories of the people of Kenneth Gardens, and in so doing unravel the complexities of social housing, local government, regulation, urban identity politics and human agency.

Along with environmental impact assessment, social impact assessment (SIA) has its origins in the 1970s and has developed from being a tool to meet regulatory requirements, to a discipline that seeks to contribute proactively to better project and policy development and to enhance the wellbeing of affected people. This volume, edited by a leading authority in the field, collates the classic articles in the history of SIA along with the most significant recent papers in this expanding area.This important collection, with an original introduction by the editor, will be an invaluable source of reference for students, academics and practitioners with an interest in the field of social impact assessment. 50 articles, dating from 1973 to 2013 Contributors include: C. Barrow, R. Burdge, A.M. Esteves, K. Finsterbusch, D. Franks, W. Freudenburg, R. Howitt, S. Lockie, C. O'Faircheallaigh, C. Wolf

While there is no shortage of of books on the environment there are few introductory texts that outline the social theory that informs human geographical approaches to the interactions between ecology and society. Students arriving at university often lack the understanding of history, economics, politics, sociology and philosophy that contemporary human geography requires. Environments in a Changing World addresses this deficit, providing foundation knowledge in a form that is accessible to first year students and applied to the understanding of both contemporary environmental issues and the challenge of sustainability. Students are challenged to develop and defend their own ethical and political positions on sustainability and respond to the need for new forms of ecological citizenship.

The third edition of this introductory textbook for both science students and non-science majors has been brought completely up-to-date. It reflects recent scientific progress in the field, as well as advances in the political arena around climate change. As in previous editions, it is tightly focussed on anthropogenic climate change. The first part of the book concentrates on the science of modern climate change, including evidence that the Earth is warming and a basic description of climate physics. Concepts such as radiative forcing, climate feedbacks, and the carbon cycle are discussed and explained using basic physics and algebra. The second half of the book goes beyond the science to address the economics and policy options to address climate change. The book's goal is for a student to leave the class ready to engage in the public policy debate on the climate crisis.

Nature, Power and the Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire was one of the greatest early modern world empires, stretching from the outskirts of Vienna in the west to the Caucasus Mountains in the east and from the tip of Arabian Peninsula in the south to the Ukrainian steppes in the north, covering an area of 3.81 million square kilometres. The Ottomans were remarkable not just for their political and military success but also for their desire and ability to understand, adapt, modify and manage different environments. This edited volume is the first collective effort to take an original look at the Ottomans through the lens of environmental history. In its wide-ranging essays, environmental perspectives illuminate diverse historical processes and events in the long history of the Ottoman Empire. The essays thus offer new answers to old questions - but also ask new questions - about the ways the Ottomans related to, depended on, thought about and interacted with the natural environment. It will appeal to anyone interested in the environmental history of one of the world's largest and most durable empires, the longest-lasting in the history of the Muslim world.

Since 1990 the UK has undergone major shifts in terms of its land, economy, society, policy and environment, all of which have had a profound effect on the geographical landscape. This fully revised edition of a well-known book presents a full description and interpretation of the changes that have occurred during the 1990s. It includes a great deal of new material from a revised team of contributors.

Antarctica, the high seas and deep seabed, the atmosphere, and space are increasingly accessible - and exploited - resource domains. Collectively known as the global commons, they represent a new and profound challenge for international law and institutions. In The Global Commons, Susan Buck considers the unique physical, legal, management, and policy problems associated with these areas. The book is a clear, useful introduction to the subject that will be of interest to general readers as well as to students in international relations, international law, and environmental law and policy.

A quiet French country district is the site of a nuclear waste-processing plant. Francoise Zonabend describes the ways in which those working in the plant, and living nearby, come to terms with the risks in their daily lives. She provides a superb sociology of the nuclear work-place, with its divisions and hierarchies, and explains the often unexpected responses of the workers to the fear of radiation and contamination. The work is described euphemistically in terms of women's tasks - cleaning, cooking, preparing a soup - but the male workers subvert this language to create a more satisfying self-image. They divide workers into the cautious ('rentiers') and the bold ('kamikazes') who relish danger. By analysing work practices and the language of the work-place, the author shows how workers and locals can recognise the possibility of nuclear catastrophe while, at the same time, denying that it could ever happen to them. This is a major contribution to the anthropology of modern life.