State of the World 2009 - Confronting Climate Change

Published every year in 28 languages, this book always represents essential reading, in this case focusing on the topical issue of climate change and within an overall context of progress towards a sustainable future. The tone, while always realistic in its diagnosis, is nevertheless oriented towards positive measures and the capacity of politicians to carry things through. Various essays examine the options, covering farming and land use, energy, adaptation and resilience, and political dimensions of securing a viable deal. In the middle, there are 22 short pieces on factors related to climate change such as security, biodiversity, health, trade, carbon capture, geo-engineering and shifting values. Aside from scientific and technical considerations, the most pressing issue is our ability to undertake the necessary transformational changes, which will have to be driven from below - see the review of Blessed Unrest below.