The Age of Sustainable Development

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• published: 05 Feb 2015
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Speaker: Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs Chair: Jonathan Leape Recorded on 4 February 2015 in Sheikh Zayed Theatre, New Academic Building. In this public lecture Professor Sachs will talk about his upcoming book, The Age of Sustainable Development, which explains the central concept for our age, which is both a way of understanding the world and a method for solving global problems - sustainable development. Sustainable development tries to make sense of the interactions of three complex systems: the world economy, the global society, and the Earth's physical environment. It recommends a holistic framework, in which society aims for environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive development, underpinned by good governance. It is a way to understand the world, yet is also a normative or ethical view of the world: a way to define the objectives of a well-functioning society, one that delivers wellbeing for its citizens today and in future generations. This book describes key challenges and solutions pathways for every part of the world to be involved in problem solving, brainstorming, and determining new and creative ways to ensure inclusive and sustainable growth. Jeffrey D. Sachs (@jeffdsachs) is a world-renowned professor of economics, leader in sustainable development, senior UN advisor, best selling author, and syndicated columnist whose monthly newspaper columns appear in more than 100 countries. He has twice been named among Time Magazine's 100 most influential world leaders. He was called by the New York Times, "probably the most important economist in the world," and by Time Magazine "the world's best known economist." A recent survey by The Economist Magazine ranked Professor Sachs as among the world's three most influential living economists of the past decade. Professor Sachs serves as the Director of The Earth Institute, Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development, and Professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University. He is Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the Millennium Development Goals, having held the same position under former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. He is Director of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. He is co-founder and Chief Strategist of Millennium Promise Alliance, and is director of the Millennium Villages Project. Sachs is also one of the Secretary-General's MDG Advocates, and a Commissioner of the ITU/UNESCO Broadband Commission for Development. He has authored three New York Times best sellers in the past seven years: The End of Poverty (2005), Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet (2008), and The Price of Civilization (2011). His most recent book is To Move the World: JFK's Quest for Peace (2013). His upcoming book The Age of Sustainable Development will be published by Columbia University Press on March 10, 2015. Jonathan Leape is the Executive Director of the International Growth Centre (IGC) at LSE. The International Growth Centre (@The_IGC) aims to promote sustainable growth in developing countries by providing demand-led policy advice based on frontier research. Based at LSE and in partnership with Oxford University, the IGC is initiated and funded by DFID.