Capitalism as if the World Matters
Paper: 978 1 84407 193 7
Price: $27.95  

Publisher: Earthscan Publications Ltd.
September 2007 , 384 pp., 6 1/4" x 9 1/2"
figures, tables & boxes

Edition: Revised Edition
When first published in 2005, Capitalism as if the World Matters, by one of the leading eco-warriors of our time, shocked both a generation of environmentalists and a generation of business people by brushing aside their petty squabbles and artificial battle lines with a powerful argument that the only way to save the world from fuel shortages, climate change and environmental catastrophe is to embrace a new type of capitalism, and to do it quickly.

In this substantially revised and updated edition, Porritt extends his powerful and controversial argument and answers his critics by providing fresh evidence and suggests new actions in a tightly argued and highly accessible book. New material includes in-depth coverage of the United States and the politics of climate change, the state of environmental debate and the massive upsurge in religious engagement with climate and the environment. Fresh case studies include the role of huge US corporations such as Walmart and General Electric in our sustainable capitalist future. Porritt also looks in-depth at China and the global impact this economic giant may have as it grows into the most environmentally damaging—or perhaps the first sustainable—superpower of the 21st century.

This is a must read for all readers with a stake in the future of the world from business executives to environmental activists and community leaders to students to the very politicians with their hands on the levers of power.

Table of Contents:
Foreword—Amory B. Lovins; Acknowledgements; Introduction; PART I: OUR UNSUSTAINABLE WORLD: 1) Conflicting Imperatives; 2) Sustainable Development for Real; 3) Re-engaging with Economic Growth; 4) Unsustainable Capitalism? 5) Through the Global Looking Glass; PART II: A FRAMEWORK FOR SUSTAINABLE CAPITALISM: 6) The Five Capitals Framework; 7) Natural Capital; 8) Human Capital; 9) Social Capital; 10) Manufactured Capital; 11) Financial Capital; PART III: BETTER LIVES IN A BETTER WORLD: 12) Confronting Denial; 13) Changing the Metrics; 14) Business Excellence; 15) Civil Society; 16) Visions and Values; 17) Converging Imperatives; Index.


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Reviews & Endorsements:
"Jonathan Porritt, a co-founder and program director at the Forum for the Future, elaborates on the argument he made in the book's first edition (2005) and answers his critics. New material includes coverage of the United States and the politics of climate change, the state of the global environmental debate and the massive upsurge in religious engagement with climate and the environment. Case studies explore the potential role of the U.S. corporations such as Wal-Mart and General Electric in a sustainable capitalist future."
- The Futurist
"Unlike the hair-shirt environmentalists who argue that the only way to save the planet is to cut back on economic growth and thus, progress, or defeatists who feel climate change has progressed so far there is nothing to be done, Porritt is ever the optimist. His humane and well-founded arguemtns read like an irresistable call to arms."
- European Business