Ensuring a Sustainable Future: Making Progress on Environment and Equity

There is very little argument that the world is facing severe environmental challenges. Ongoing air and water pollution, increasing energy consumption, and the depletion of natural resources have all placed considerable stress on the capacity of our environment to support the present quality of human life in a sustainable manner. Ensuring a Sustainable Future does what few previous works have: it examines these trends' disproportionate impact on the poor and the economically viable solutions that can serve to remedy them -- solutions that simultaneously address environmental and economic problems. This gap in previous research, evidence, and writing has left low-income countries often unwilling to take on major environmental problems and many poor communities believing they faced impossible choices between improving the environment in which they live and increasing the jobs and income available. Bringing together evidence-based recommendations and in-depth case studies of successful policies and programs around the world, Ensuring a Sustainable Future examines innovative solutions to this crucial challenge. In doing so, it addresses a comprehensive range of environmental sustainability challenges affecting low-, middle-, and high-income countries. Available in OSO: Contributors to this volume - Peter Adams Peter Adams is a policy analyst and consultant for Acclimatise, a climate risk management consultancy. Previously, Adams was a member of McGill University's Climate Change Adaptation Research Group, where he studied impacts of climate change in Arctic Canada and Greenland. As part of this, Adams conducted an intensive field research mission in Nunavut, Canada, working with local institutions to understand climate change impacts and adaptation strategies in vulnerable northern communities. He has worked with the U.S. Peace Corps in China, as a teacher in Tibet, and as a researcher studying climate change and water policy in India and Bangladesh. Adams earned a Masters in Geography from McGill University. Madhav Badami Madhav Badami has a joint faculty appointment in the School of Urban Planning and the School of Environment at McGill University. After having studied mechanical engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, he spent nine years in diesel engine development in the Indian truck and bus industry. He then obtained a Master's degree in environmental science at the University of Calgary, and a PhD in environmental policy and planning at the University of British Columbia. He has led extensive research into urban transportation in fast-growing cities in India. His teaching and research interests are in the areas of environmental policy and planning; urban infrastructure and services; urban transport; alternative transport fuels; and environment and development. David Banister David Banister is Professor of Transport Studies at Oxford University and Director of the Transport Studies Unit. Until 2006, he was Professor of Transport Planning at University College London. He has also been a Research Fellow at the Warren Centre in the University of Sydney (2001-2002) on the Sustainable Transport for a Sustainable City project, was Visiting VSB Professor at the Tinbergen Institute in Amsterdam (1994-1997), and Visiting Professor at the University of Bodenkultur in Vienna in 2007. He is currently the first holder of the Benelux BIVET-GIBET Transport Chair (2012-2013). He has published 23 books, either as author or editor, and some 200 papers in refereed scientific journals. He is editor of two major international journals, Transport Reviews and Built Environment (jointly), and he is on the editorial board of seven other journals. Lise Bertrand Lise Bertrand is Chef d'equipe developpement social at the Direction de sante publique, Agence de la sante et des services sociaux de Montreal, and a Researcher at the Centre Lea Roback. Bertrand completed a baccalaureate degree in nutrition at Universite Laval, Quebec, followed by a master's degree in Public Health at the University of California at Berkeley. Her current role involves partnering with government and community groups to advocate for policies and programs that enhance health, improve nutrition, and address social inequalities at the regional level. Bertrand currently oversees 16 initiatives that involve partnerships with citizens as well as community groups, decision makers, and borough administrators to improve food access, healthy eating and sustainable food systems. She conducts research on disparities in access to food in Montreal, and on food consumption monitoring. Angela Glover Blackwell Angela Glover Blackwell is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of PolicyLink, a leading voice in the movement to use public policy to improve access and opportunity for all low-income people and communities of color, particularly in the areas of health, housing, transportation, education, and infrastructure. Glover Blackwell is the co-author of the recently published Uncommon Common Ground: Race and America's Future (W.W. Norton & Co., 2010), and contributed to Ending Poverty in America: How to Restore the American Dream (The New Press, 2007) and The Covenant with Black America (Third World Press, 2006). She earned a bachelor's degree from Howard University, and a law degree from the University of California at Berkeley. She served as co-chair of the task force on poverty for the Center for American Progress. Donald Cole Donald Cole is the Interim Head, Global Health Division at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and Interim Director of a new Institute for Global Health Equity and Innovation at the University of Toronto. Cole practiced primary care, public health, occupational health and environmental health in a variety of settings in Canada and low and middle income countries. He developed a longstanding relationship with the International Potato Center around agriculture and health research for development, with a particular focus on pesticides, urban agriculture and nutrition. As a tenured Associate Professor, he currently teaches, mentors, does research, and contributes research evidence in Canada and internationally. As co-chair of the Capacity Development Program Area of the Canadian Coalition for Global Health Research (CCGHR), he has a particular interest in evaluation of health research capacity strengthening. Bill Cosgrove Bill Cosgrove is President of Ecoconsult Inc. and is currently Senior Adviser for the 4th edition of the UN World Water Development Report and the World Water Scenarios Project of the UN World Water Assessment Program. Cosgrove received his B. Eng. and M. Eng. Sanitary Engineering and an Honorary Doctorate of Science from McGill University. From 2005-2008 he was President of the Bureau d'audiences publiques sur l'environnement in Quebec. Cosgrove is a former vice president of the World Bank, past-president of the World Water Council and served as chairman of the International Steering Committee of the Dialogue on Water and Climate. James Ford James Ford is an assistant professor in geography at McGill University. He works with Indigenous communities on climate change vulnerability assessment and adaptation planning, and received a Young Innovator Award from the Canadian government for his innovative community based research. Ford was a contributing author to the IPCC fourth assessment report and is currently co-leading the Indigenous Health Adaptation to Climate Change project, a 5-year initiative examining the vulnerability of remote Indigenous health systems in the Arctic, Peru and Uganda to climate change. Ford's research team is also developing novel approaches to track climate change adaptation at global and regional levels, and exploring ways to effectively communicate research to stakeholders and the public at large. Ted Howard Ted Howard is the founder and Executive Director of The Democracy Collaborative at the University of Maryland. In July 2010, Howard was appointed as the Steven Minter Senior Fellow for Social Justice at The Cleveland Foundation. In this position, he has been responsible for developing a comprehensive job creation and wealth building strategy which has resulted in the Evergreen Cooperative Initiative, based in part on the Mondragon Cooperatives in the Basque Region of Spain. From 1998 to 2007, Howard served as Chairman of the Board of Search for Common Ground, the world's largest conflict resolution NGO. He is chairman of the board of ocean advocacy group Blue Frontier. For the past three decades, Howard has worked in the not-for-profit sector, including agencies of the UN system and The Hunger Project where he was Global Communications Director and Chief Operating Office. Shannon Lockhart Shannon Lockhart is a medical student studying at the University of British Columbia and obtained a Bachelor of Arts at McGill University. She interned with the William J. Clinton Foundation working to facilitate the social initiatives of college students and has currently focused her research on the effects of incorporating physical exercise into medical education curricula. Shannon Lockhart was a policy fellow at the Institute for Health and Social Policy and conducted a case study on TIDE India (Technology Informatics Design Endeavor), an organization that promotes the use of technological innovation for sustainable development. Cosmin Paduraru Cosmin Paduraru is currently finishing his PhD in artificial intelligence at McGill University, focusing on automated decision making in complex environments. He completed his BSc at the University of Bucharest and his MSc at the University of Alberta, both in computer science. His primary focus continues to be on applying his analytical skills to health, equity, and environmental sustainability. Paduraru was a Policy Fellow at the Institute for Health and Social Policy and conducted a case study on Casa Verde Builders in Austin, a green job training program targeting disadvantaged youth. Willy Pradel Willy Pradel is a researcher at the International Potato Center, working on agricultural and health- related projects with focus on rural nutrition in Andean countries as well as evaluating the risks of pesticide use in Latin America and Africa. Pradel holds a M.Sc . in Agricultural Development Economics Pradel has experience in environmental valuation techniques of potato diversity in Andean countries and he is responsible for the design, capacity building, and analysis of results related to monitoring and evaluation methodologies using participatory evaluation approaches and standard and innovative quantitative methods. Gordon Prain Gordon Prain is a Senior Scientist in Social and Health Sciences at the International Potato Center, and the Global Coordinator for Urban Harvest-Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research . He is one of the editors of African Urban Harvest: Agriculture in the Cities of Cameroon, Kenya and Uganda. Kara Quennell Kara Quennell received her B.A. Honours in Anthropology from McGill University in 2011. She is currently completing her M.A. in Medical Anthropology at the University of Toronto. Quennell was a Policy Fellow at the McGill Institute for Health and Social Policy, conducting a case study on a green jobs training program in the South Bronx. Her research continues to address the relationships between social, economic and health related inequalities. Her current projects focus on chronic disease and racialised conceptions of care in Canada. David Satterthwaite David Satterthwaite is a Senior Fellow at the International Institute for Environment and Development, Visiting Professor at University College London (the Development Planning Unit) and Honorary Professor, University of Hull. He currently serves as the Editor of the international journal Environment and Urbanization. He has worked with numerous organizations in informal settlements around the world, leading research into urban challenges in cities in low and middle income countries. Dr. Satterthwaite holds a PhD from the London School of Economics and is the author of numerous publications including Squatter Citizen (with Jorge E. Hardoy) and The Earthscan Reader on Sustainable Cities. He has contributed to the IPCC's Third and Fourth Assessments and is the lead author for the Chapter on Adapting Cities in the IPCC's Fifth Assessment. Mitra Thompson Mitra Thompson is currently based in Ottawa, and is an analyst at one of Canada's leading public opinion and market research organizations. She holds an MA in Political Science from McGill University and a BA in Journalism from Concordia University. She was a Policy Fellow at the McGill Institute for Health and Social Policy and conducted research on United We Can in Vancouver, an organization fostering job creation through recycling in one of Canada's poorest neighborhoods. Hakan Tropp Hakan Tropp works in developing the water governance concept and its practical application in a development context. He spearheaded and leads the Water Governance Facility (WGF), a demand driven programme that assists governments in water governance reform and its implementation. WGF is an initiative by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and implemented by the Stockholm International Water Institute, SIWI. Tropp previously worked with Agenda 21 at the United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs and as a Water Specialist at the UNDP. He is a founding member of the Water Integrity Network and was its first Chair (2006?2010). Tropp received degrees in political science and political economy from Lund University, and he holds a PhD from the Department of Water and Environmental Studies, Linkoping University. Tim Weis Tim Weis is a professional engineer and the director of renewable energy and efficiency policy at the Pembina Institute in Canada. Weis specializes in clean energy policy design, research and strategic decision making. He has assisted more than 20 communities at various stages of development of renewable energy projects and has written extensively on sustainable energy technical and policy issues at national, provincial and municipal levels, as well as opportunities specific to off-grid communities. Weis holds a PhD from the Universite du Quebec a Rimouski in environmental sciences, with a focus on wind energy development in remote communities. He also has an M.Sc. (University of Alberta) and a B.A.Sc. (University of Waterloo) in mechanical engineering. James Woodcock James Woodcock is a public health researcher at the Centre for Diet and Activity Research (CEDAR), University of Cambridge. Woodcock's research focuses on how to improve health and well-being during the transition to a low carbon transport system. He has led the development of macro-simulation health exposure and impact models for physical activity and road traffic injuries. His health impact modelling of transport has led to highly cited publications in the Lancet and presentations to international audiences of policy makers. Current research includes working with London policy makers to model the health impacts of the London hire bikes and other active travel initiatives, and a UK research council (ESRC) funded project 'Changing Commutes' in which he is using agent-based modelling to investigate how a transition to mass cycle commuting in English cities could be achieved.