State of the World 2003

STATE OF THE WORLD, WORLDWATCH INSTITUTE 2003

Most encouraging, the world is sitting on the cusp of similar successes that could usher in a sustainable human civilization. The use of clean, renewable energy technologies, like wind turbines and photovoltaics for example, is growing at over 25 percent per year, and they are increasingly competitive with fossil fuels. Organic farming is the fastest-growing sector of the world agricultural economy, with the potential to rejuvenate rural communities from the Philippines to Sweden. And a quickening of religious interest in humanity’s place in the natural environment could awaken a powerful new constituency to the cause of sustainability.

The challenges are still immense, of course, as the book also documents, but the building blocks for a historic reinvention of human civilization are now within reach.