A Finer Future: Creating an Economy in Service to Life - Hardcover

Lovins, L. Hunter; Wallis, Stewart; Wijkman, Anders; Fullerton, John

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0865718989 ISBN 13: 9780865718982

Publisher: New Society Publishers, 2018

Synopsis

The blueprint for an inspiring regenerative economy that avoids collapse and works for people and the planet.

Humanity is in a race with catastrophe. Is the future one of global warming, 65 million migrants fleeing failed states, soaring inequality, and grid-locked politics? Or one of empowered entrepreneurs and innovators building a world that works for everyone?

While the specter of collapse looms large, A Finer Future demonstrates that humanity has a chance - just - to thread the needle of sustainability and build a regenerative economy through a powerful combination of enlightened entrepreneurialism, technology, and innovative policy.

The authors - world leaders in business, economics, and sustainability - gather the evidence, outline the principles of a regenerative economy, and detail a policy roadmap to achieving it, including:

• Transforming finance and corporations
• Reimagining energy, agriculture, and the nature of how we work
• Enhancing human well-being
• Delivering a world that respects ecosystems and human community.

Charting the course to a regenerative economy is the most important work facing humanity and A Finer Future provides the essential blueprint for business leaders, entrepreneurs, environmentalists, politicians, policymakers, and others working to create a world that works for people and the planet.

About this title

Review

"A Finer Future brings hope by showing us a vision of a future with greater wellbeing, deep engagement with nature and each other, and the enormous economic benefit in transforming how we deliver energy, grow food, and finance industry. A manifesto for the future we must create." ― Jennifer Holmgren, CEO, LanzaTech

" A Finer Future is an important book for our times. The world is facing deep environmental and social challenges that threaten our collective well-being. These thought leaders provide the clearest explanation I've seen of how the world got to this point ― the culprit is a fatally flawed story about what makes economies hum and people happy. This me-first philosophy now dominates the thinking in governments and businesses around the world, and it's dead wrong. But A Finer Future offers us some optimism, giving us a new and better story about how to build a thriving future. And like all good stories, this one is well-told ― it feels a lot like sitting down with Hunter Lovins to talk about the future of humanity over a good drink." ― Andrew Winston, author, The Big Pivot and Green to Gold

"Join the movement for an economy driven by sustainable wellbeing rather than consumerism, profit and growth. This book is your introduction to a movement for sustainable wellbeing and a better world." ― Kate E. Pickett, Professor of Epidemiology, and Deputy Director, Centre for Future Health, University of York

" Amidst the wreckage of the industrial economy, a better, more humane, more just, and more durable economy is emerging. The obstacles and the economic alternatives and alternatives are laid out here by four of the most observant and prescient thinkers of our time. Indeed, there is a regenerative economy to be built and it will be the keystone of a finer future." ― David W. Orr, Paul Sears Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics, Oberlin College, and author, Dangerous Years: Climate Change, the Long Emergency, and the Way Forward

" A Finer Future provides a thought-provoking perspective and a call to action on the role of sustainability as a key factor in driving value. It challenges all of us to find strategies that truly align our economic, community, and environmental stakeholders." ― Rob Katz, CEO, Vail Resorts, Inc.

"The end of the exploitive, and the rise of the regenerative: that's the clarion call in this must-read book. Our consumptive status quo is too costly for the economy and it's past-time we mainstream a new way. What we eat, wear, ride, fly, and build must be regenerative. How? This book shows the way. An authoritative nod towards a much-needed norm and narrative, this book is a masterful mix of the hard and soft sciences, putting solid numbers behind sound narratives. For anyone wanting to save people and the planet, this book is the path to pursue and the story to tell." ― Nils Moe, Managing Director, Urban Sustainability Directors Network

"Beautifully comprehensive and inspiring. What we need." ― Dr Eban Goodstein, Director, Bard Center for Environmental Policy

"Hunter Lovins is a pragmatic visionary, and the strategy she lays out in this book is the best chance we have to date of actualizing a regenerative future. One of the most luminary thought leaders of our time. Simply a must-read if you are interested in the future of the planet and your role in it!" ― Brenna St. Onge, Executive Director, The Alliance Center

" A Finer Future captures the reason we created our company. Hunter Lovins is a much needed elder telling a new story that can galvanize the largest "we" in human history. This book calls us to serve sanity, justice, and every living thing." ― Donna Morton, CEO, Change Finance

"Rarely has economics been so fun and exhilarating to read about. Four scholars at the forefront of the wellbeing economy agenda have crafted a pacy, captivating book. It blends vision with insightful analysis of why our world is in such a perilous state, with a good helping of tangible examples of the changes so vitally needed. Anyone reading it will soon find assurance that a finer, more functional and more fun future is entirely possible." ― Dr Katherine Trebeck, Research Director, Wellbeing Economy Alliance

"We spend too much time discussing problems without getting to solutions. This book provides the solutions needed to transform our economy into one that actually serves all of humanity, instead of only the rich. It's a must-read for anyone that cares about creating a better world not only for themselves but their children and grandchildren." ― Ida Kubiszewski, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University

" A Finer Future is a work of refined synthesis and insightful visioning. Rooted in a stark analysis of current development trends its authors rapidly move beyond critique to developing an inspiring yet deeply practical narrative about transitioning to a regenerative economy. More than a guide or blueprint ― it is an enlightened, pragmatic, and empowering roadmap through life as we know it, the choices we make, and the future we want." ― Achim Steiner, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme

" A Finer Future is a brilliant and well-researched book that guides readers to rethink what the future will look like once we shatter old narratives, paradigms, and models that no longer serve humanity and the planet. We are through with the waste and the inefficiencies and inequities that have been the unintended consequences of the last 100 years. This is a roadmap to a truly sustainable future." ― Catherine Greener, VP Sustainability, Xanterra Travel Collection and Founder, Greener Solutions Inc

"To build a better world, first we must imagine one. In this book, the authors do just that, laying out a vision for a better life and, crucially, a practical roadmap to get there. If you're disillusioned with today, this deeply researched book offers the path forward. I'll see you in our finer future. . ." ― Freya Williams, CEO, Futerra North America

"In this most compelling text Hunter Lovins delivers an engaging walk through what is possible for achieving ― and excelling ― in delivering products and services that are good for planet and people! It is a must-have for students and practitioners seeking to accelerate and amplify the transition to economies around the world where humanity and nature thrive." ― Professor Cheryl Desha, Head of Civil Engineering (Nathan), Griffith University

"This is the book we've been waiting for. With clarity and vision, Hunter and her co-authors give us the playbook for how we can craft the future in which we want to live. Buy it, read it, and live it." ― John Steiner and Margo King, founders, Bridge Alliance.

" A Finer Future is the best book out on how to reform capitalism in the direction of more fundamental changes and to buy muchneeded time. ―Randy Hayes, Executive Director, Foundation Earth; and founder, Rainforest Action Network

"A much-needed book with a call for constructive collaboration towards a finer future we all yearn for. We have all the technological solutions we need we just need to implement them. Lovins and colleagues show a path forward that allows all those of good will, some smarts, and stamina to get us out of the mess we are in towards an economy and society that works for 100% of humanity." ― Dr Michael Pirson, Director, Center for Humanistic Management; Director, Master of Science in Management, Fordham University; and author, Humanistic Management: Protecting Dignity and Promoting Well Being

"This book will make you smarter about creating real, lasting, generational value. If you know in your gut that we can prosper and restore our environment at the same time, but are told by politics you're wrong, then this book is for you." ― Will Semmes, former Chief Deputy Director, California Department of General Services; and CEO, Bellwether Consultants

"This book gives us the map, a voice, and the reassurance that we are on the right course. It has all come full circle; Natural Capitalism inspired us to start Waste Farmers, and Hunter's latest book provides the necessary roadmap for an economy that supports companies like ours and all of the stakeholders we serve." ― John-Paul Maxfield, Founder & CEO, Waste Farmers

" A Finer Future is perhaps the most important book of this century: the future of humanity may well rest on the achievement of the recommendations. If you care about the future of our species and our biosphere ― really about the future of everything we hold dear ― read this book, then roll up your sleeves and get to work." ― Kim Coupounas, social entrepreneur and Director of B Lab, the certifying body behind B Corporations

Book Description

The blueprint for an inspiring regenerative economy that avoids collapse and works for people and the planet

Edition details

• Publisher: New Society Publishers
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 0865718989
• ISBN 13: 9780865718982
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 448