Sustainable development cannot be prescribed - rather, it results from conscious personal choices in government, business and NGOs. This thought-provoking book explores both the origins and future of the global sustainable development movement, and provides an original overview of the driving forces of sustainable development, including market forces and past and future trends.

The contributors, leading experts in the field, identify and analyze the sustainability attitudes of key actors in government, corporate and NGO leadership that have shaped sustainable development history. The importance of a new and unconventional role of governments in promoting sustainability is highlighted, while corporations and NGOs feel both the risk of failures and the importance of long-term global stability more directly.

Exploring the present and future scope of emerging global sustainable development movement, this stimulating and thought-provoking book will prove invaluable to a wide-ranging audience encompassing: academics, researchers, students and business practitioners with an interest in sustainable development and corporate social responsibility, public administration and public-private interactions; and policymakers involved in environmental, social and economic issues in both government and non-governmental organizations.