Note to the reader from the UNU

The United Nations University programme on the Human and Policy Dimensions of Global Change was initiated in recognition of the level of complexity of global environmental change and the need to formulate appropriate strategies to minimize the rate and extent of such change and likely associated consequences, as well as reduce possible adverse impacts on human societies and on ecosystems. The objectives of the programme are: (1) to increase awareness of the complex dynamics governing human interaction with the Earth as a whole system; (2) to strengthen efforts to anticipate social change affecting the global environment; (3) to analyse policy options for dealing with global environmental change; and (4) to identify broad social strategies to prevent or mitigate undesirable impacts of global environmental change.

An outcome of the UNU project of the same name, this book is intended as a comprehensive treatise on the subject of industrial restructuring for sustainable development, incorporating a comprehensive coverage of the field. The emerging concepts of "industrial metabolism" and restructuring for sustainable development focus on the long-term transformation of the technical base of the economy, with a view towards reducing the demands and pressures exerted by society on its resource base and its environment. As such, it forms an essential part of the principal answer to the challenge of sustainability.