Routledge Sustainability Unpacked: Food, Energy and Water for Resilient Environments and Societies

Food, water and energy form some of the basic elements of sustainability considerations. This ground-breaking book examines and decodes these elements, exploring how a range of countries make decisions regarding their energy and bio-resource consumption and procurement. The authors consider how these choices impact not only the societies and environments of those countries, but the world in general. To achieve this, the authors review the merits of various sustainability and environmental metrics, and then apply these to 34 countries that are ranked low, medium or high on the human development index. The book assesses their resource capacities and the environmental impacts, both within and outside their country boundaries, from consuming food, water, and energy. The final section uses the lessons derived from the earlier analyses of resource consumption to explore the importance of geography, climates and sustainable management of forests and other natural resources for building resilient societies in the future. Review 'What is 'sustainability'? Taking a comprehensive yet simple approach, this book discusses the inter-linking and complex elements of sustainability and how they influence and are influenced by our society when it comes to making decisions about resource use. A must-read book for everyone interested in conservation, the environment and development.' – Dicky P. Simorangkir, Forest Program Director, The Nature Conservancy, Indonesia 'A foundational reader that is encyclopedic in its scope and consideration of data to advance an analytical lens to plan and implement sustainable development that meets both the real-world tests of pessimists and ambitions of optimists.' – Steve Rhee, AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Science and Technology Fellow, US State Department (2007-9) "In order to ‘‘think like an ecosystem’’ the book draws on a wide range of examples and metrics from past and present societies. It considers how societies collapsed or survived in the past as well as exploring nine indices pertinent to sustainability from 34 different countries ... The book makes a contribution to the literature through this ambitious attempt to pick apart sustainability with real life examples." – Orla Shortall, Agriculture and Human Values About the Author Kristiina A. Vogt, professor of ecosystem management and founder (and co-coordinator) of the Forest Systems and Bioenergy program at the University of Washington, Seattle, USA. She was one of the founders of a start-up bioenergy company, Renewol, which she currently chairs. She also is the Vice-President for Bio-Energy, Interforest LLC. She is a co-investigator on a multi-million dollar Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training (IGERT) grant funded by the NSF entitled 'Bio-resource Based Energy for Sustainable Societies'. Professor Vogt has authored or co-authored seven books and published over 135 refereed articles. Toral Patel-Weynand, Affiliate Associate Faculty at the University of Washington (UW) and an Associate of the Forest Systems and Bioenergy, UW. Maura Shelton, Research Associate with the Forest Systems and Bioenergy in the College of Forest Resources at the University of Washington. She is presently an NSF IGERT Bioenergy Fellow. Daniel J. Vogt, Associate Professor in Soils and Ecosystem Ecology of the College of Forest Resources, University of Washington. He is an internationally-recognized scholar with over 50 author credits. He is also currently a senior consultant of Interforest, LLC, a sustainable forestry consulting firm, and a partner in a start-up bioenergy company, Renewol. John C. Gordon, Chairman of Interforest, LLC, a sustainable forestry consulting firm, and a founder of the Candlewood Timber Group, Inc., a sustainable forestry company with forestland and operations in Argentina. He is also Pinchot Professor Emeritus of Forestry and Environmental Studies at the Yale School of For