Our current habits of consumption and production in the West cannot be maintained. The way we live, in particular the way we generate and use energy, is no longer environmentally or socially sustainable. In high-income countries, it threatens our health and well-being. In low-income ones it is already responsible for the death or displacement of hundreds of thousands of people every year. We urgently need to reconsider our lifestyles and the policies that shape them. This book represents the first serious Christian engagement with the emerging issue of sustainable consumption and production. Spencer and White analyze the scientific, sociological, economic and theological thinking that makes a Christian response to these trends both imperative and distinctive. Their practical conclusions explore what can be done at the personal, community, national and international levels to make sustainable living a reality. Firmly rooted in the good news of the Christian faith this is, above all, a constructive and hopeful book that offers a realistic vision of a better future. ' . . . goes far beyond the boundaries of the problem of climate change, to a future in which sustainability in all its aspects is paramount and where the whole global human community no longer rapes the earth and its resources, but lives harmoniously and comfortably with it. To begin to realize this vision is a matter of great urgency. Don't read this book if you are not prepared for its challenge!' Sir John Houghton, FRS from the foreword
