Global land use determines several outcomes jointly: aggregate food production; feasible human population; stability of the food production system; and availability of genetic resources. Together these outcomes determine the sustainability of the entire food production system, and consequently the capacity for the human niche to be supported. This project outlines a program of work that enables the examination of various pathways for land use – and demonstrates the joint outcomes along each pathway that result (food production, population, stability, genetic resource availability). In this way the issue of global land use is assessed within a framework very similar to that applied elsewhere by Stern (2006) in the analysis of climate change and growth pathways.

The project also simulates how aggregate outcomes vary across different assumptions concerning discounting, hazard rates, technological change. In this way it is possible to examine the sustainability of various alternative global land use pathways – given the impact of land use on growth, systemic stability and resultant human welfare.

The Club of Rome is a global network of independent and renowned thinkers that analyses today’s challenges facing the world, their root causes and the possible futures in a systematic and holistic manner. The Club of Rome encourages global debate in order to set in motion actions that by the middle of the century will ensure a more secure, equitable and prosperous world.

The Club of Rome is using the opportunity provided by the growing awareness on global limits and on the need for fundamental change, as well as the 40^th anniversary of the book Limits to Growth to launch a communication campaign. The campaign “2052 – The World in 40 Years” is looking 40 years back and 40 years forward, it looks at trends and developments over an 80 year period and it aims at indentifying desirable futures and define realistic means of transition.

The campaign “2052 – The world in 40 Years” consists of a series of events, publications, communication projects and outreach efforts to decision-makers and active social and environmental movements.

Humanity’s growing numbers, increasing per capita consumption and resource-intensive economic growth models have caused a widening gap between human demand and what nature is able to supply. Since the mid 1970s, humanity has been in ecological overshoot – using resources and producing waste such as carbon dioxide emissions faster than the planet can regenerate and reabsorb them.

Overshoot also contributes to resource conflicts, mass migrations, famine, disease and other human tragedies and remains one of the biggest risks to humanity in the 21st century. Many decision-makers have a fragmented worldview and do not understand the overarching phenomenon of overshoot and most economies are woefully unprepared. In a world facing a biocapacity crunch, the winning economic strategies will both manage biocapacity and reduce demand for it. Those countries and cities trapped in energy- and resource-intensive infrastructure (and economic activities) – will become dangerously fragile and will not be able to adapt in time to meet the emerging resource constraints. But those who adjust early will lead the next renaissance.

Global Footprint Network aims to breakdown leaders’ misperceptions by demonstrating the full extent of the link between ecological balance and competitiveness and the possible challenges this link poses to their nations’ economies. By grounding this resources-competitiveness link with clear scientific and economic evidence, Global Footprint Network will create specific pitches for five target nations that will address their particularities relevant to this analysis. The pitches will show national leaders that ignoring this link could lead to more fragile economies and endanger their nations’ competitiveness, resilience and well-being. The goal is to produce high-level understanding of this link and support nations in taking action through policy changes relating to regulations and investment priorities.

Swisscleantech is a business association with the aim to position Switzerland as a leader in cleantech and sustainable (green) economy. It is the voice of a fast growing number of 300+ member companies that support the development of a sustainable market economy thereby contributing to shifting the entire economy towards reduced emissions and less resource intensity. Swisscleantech actively develops policies that build on demo projects or stem from the systematic and regular gathering of know-how from the private sector and from academia.

Swisscleantech seeks to achieve its political goals that are detailed in its Cleantech Strategy Switzerland through three main approaches:

• Focus on Cleantech: Cleantech is understood, communicated and systematically advanced as a central success factor for the Swiss economy.
• Ambitious goals: Focus Cleantech is supported by clear and quantifiable objectives, e.g. by concrete CO2-emissions values, quota of renewable energies, and other resource dependencies and emission values.
• Adequate frameworks: In order to achieve these goals, Switzerland defines a transparent and national regulatory framework to guarantee that costs at the expense of the environment (external costs) are consistently internalized, that sustainability is clearly rewarded, and that innovation and planning security can be further advanced.