Where on Earth Are We Going?

By Maurice Strong

Book Overview

World hunger, ecological and environmental disaster, global warming, massive shifts in weather systems, the re-emergence of diseases long thought controlled and political turmoil in a world where a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 067697077X
• ISBN13: 9780676970777
• Release Date: May 2000
• Publisher: Knopf
• Length: 432 Pages
• Weight: 1.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 1.1" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

An insider's view of the birth of international environmentalism

This is two books in one: an autobiographical view of how one of the world's foremost environmentalists attempted to achieve his goals, and an insider's story of how international environmentalism grew up overnight, in a frenzy of some successes and too many failures. The book is invaluable for its vivid portrayal of the details and complexities that those less well situated are unable to write about first hand, such as 99% of the world's writers. If you want to understand the nitty gritty of how global environmentalism works and why, "Where on Earth Are We Going?" will take you there. It will also take you to where I wanted to go in the fall of 2001, when I read the book. That's the year I made the move to working on the sustainability problem full time. I had a lot of learning to do, and Maurice Strong filled in huge gaps in my education. He also pointed out some of the phenomena that were beginning to attract my analysis. For example, looking over my notes on the book, Maurice explained how solving the poverty problem came to be linked to solving the environmental sustainability problem. To me this has been a historical error for two reasons: One is that the environment must have the highest priority, because if it becomes uninhabitable, then no other problem matters. The second is that Homo sapiens has had the poverty problem for a long, long time--it's that difficult. To attempt to suddenly solve it now by tacking it onto the shoulders of another problem only makes that problem a harder one to solve. Maurice was the Secretary-General of the 1972 Stockholm conference, which gave him the ultimate insider's viewpoint. He wrote that "The biggest threat to the conference was the ambivalence, even apathy, that developing countries felt toward the whole issue of the environment. From the beginning, developing countries had regarded the West's concern with `the environment' as just another fad of the industrialized countries; in their view pollution and environmental contamination were diseases of the rich.... Most of them would gladly exchange a little pollution for the benefits of economic growth." Seeing this undercurrent, Maurice "... knew the conference would fail if we couldn't persuade the developing countries to take part. ... The key concept called for a redefinition and expansion of environment to link it directly to the economic development process and the concerns of developing countries." This was a fateful decision. The solution to the poverty problem of unindustrialized countries was assumed to be development, and the strategy was to "link" this development to solving the environmental sustainability problem. But these are really two very different and separate problems. By linking them together, into what was soon called "sustainable development," the world's problem solvers horse traded one historically intractable problem and one brand new difficult but probably solvable problem into guess what? One big Gordian Knot of an in

Insightful, Interesting, but more like an autobiography.....

Well I must say, this was an interesting read to say the least. To be qiute honest this book was not what I expected from reading the backcover. Much of the book seemed like an autobiograghpy( which isn't too bad since he has lived an intersting live) and the rest was on three main issues, Globalization, the Enviroment, and Politics. Though some of the book was a little dry I found the opening and the final few chapters to be very well done. This was an enlightening book which opens doors and makes you think "Where on earth are we going?" I would give this book 3 stars but I gave the extra star for the extremely interesting facts. This book also gives you a good feeling of the structure of the U.N. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in international political science, the U.N. or interesting theories to prevent the earths head on collision with dooms day via pollution. Check it out!!

Insightful, Interesting, but more like an autobiography.....

Well I must say, this was an interesting read to say the least. To be qiute honest this book was not what I expected from reading the backcover. Much of the book seemed like an autobiograghpy( which isn't too bad since he has lived an intersting live) and the rest was on three main issues, Globalization, the Enviroment, and Politics. Though some of the book was a little dry I found the opening and the final few chapters to be very well done. This was an enlightening book which opens doors and makes you think "Where on earth are we going?" I would give this book 3 stars but I gave the extra star for the extremely interesting facts. This book also gives you a good feeling of the structure of the U.N. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in international political science, the U.N. or interesting theories to prevent the earths head on collision with dooms day via pollution. Check it out!!!

Custodian of the Earth

Although I never thought of reading a book on planet earth I am so grateful I did. This amazing man who has spent a lifetime tirelessly working for our environment, for the people of this world, tells his story. From humble beginnings to earning the respect as well as a standing ovation of the largest gathering of world leaders ever to convene (The Rio Earth Summit in 1992) his life should be an example to presidents and prime ministers, presidents of corporations and concerned humans. With wisdom and compassion he explains the situation of our planet very clearly and makes some ingenious recommendations as to what we as individuals can do and governments and corporations can undertake in order to avoid the sad destruction of a planet we all love and have to live on. It discusses important issues such as CO2 emissions, biotechnology and genetics, foreign aid, and a term I loved "sophisticated modesty". I am happy I read this book and now I can speak with a little more knowledge on the United Nations, human rights, the environment, globalization and how it affects us and how it affects me. I found it inspiring and enjoyable to read. This book sums it all up succinctly and beautifully.