In this hugely important intellectual, ethical and ultimately practical analysis from the internationally renowned Wuppertal Institute, the authors address the two problems that define our age - social justice and environmental sustainability. How can those in poor countries raise their standards of living, on a planet with limited resources, without putting it under additional environmental stress? Going beyond the outdated North and South divide, they construct the necessary intellectual and moral platform for fundamental progress in the opening decades of the 21st century.