Sustainable Solutions December 2008

BOOK REVIEWS
When it's more than simply carbon offsetting
The Converging World by John Pontin made, whereas with TCW, the proﬁ ts from
Published by Piatkus the credits go into energy saving schemes
ISBN 978-0-7499-5170-2 elsewhere in the world. Inspired by his
Cost: £12.99 ﬁ ndings, he presented a paper in 2005 to the
RSA and received a less than enthusiastic
T
HIS IS the story of how one community’s response.
path to zero waste is helping save our “This would never work,” said one Fellow
planet, says the cover of The Converging from the Royal Society for the encouragement
World. This is quite a tall order when you of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA).
think about it. But as the old saying goes, “It is elegant but it’s too naïve for words.”
mighty oaks grow from humble acorns. Undaunted, Pontin plunged into the project
Pontin’s book is an account of a scheme to and invested money from his family trust to
twin two regions, his own in South West ﬁ nance the ﬁ rst large turbine in Tamil Nadu in
England (Chew Magna which boasts a 2007. He points out that the ﬁ rst turbine was
population of ﬁ ve million) and one in rural used as collateral for a loan to buy the second,
India, Tamil Nadu, with a population ﬁ ve “so it was as if one were breeding another.”
times as great. TCW effectively acts as a broker with an
According to the author, this alliance aim of attracting companies “into the fold”.
owes its success in part to wind turbines that Apart from an occasional lapse into
have been set up in the Indian region which purple prose, e.g. “with colourful garlands of
provide it with green electricity supplies and, ﬂ owers swinging around my neck...” when
more importantly, with economic power in Pontin visited a school in India, he is clearly
the form of “wealth-creating carbon credits”. a variety of issues with the notion that carbon genuinely convinced that TCW has something
The latter are sold in Britain to individuals is a commodity and has a cost attached to it”. valuable to offer the carbon reduction debate.
and businesses who cannot (yet) reduce The author points out that while “it looks “Its foundations are now ﬁ rm and for the
emissions. like a carbon offsetting scheme, commonly moment it is thriving,” says the author.
The Converging World (TCW) charts derided among environmentalists...it’s much The ﬁ nal word goes to Jonathon Porritt,
Pontin’s efforts to ‘spread the word’. It turns more than that”. TCW’s project advisor who says: “We think
out that TCW is the name of a British charity Pontin says that the scope of most carbon you’ll ﬁ nd The Converging World that little
operating out of Bristol that “seeks to resolve offsetting schemes ends once a payment is bit different.” This says it all.
A business message delivered uncompromisingly
Adapt and Thrive: The Sustainable Readers are warned that: “this hard-nosed
Revolution by Peter J McManners commercial approach may not be liked by
Published by Susta Press many green campaigners, but the author
ISBN 978-0-9557369-0-2 believes that when they see what can be
Cost: £19.99 achieved, their voices will be muted”.
Among the subjects tackled are familiar
“S
ORRY CHAPS, but we’re all ones such as waste and the energy crunch.
DOOMED!” reads the press release on “The main issue for business is to
Adapt and Thrive. Hmm, that’s a promising start understand how the business landscape
[not]. Described as a 'radical new economics and will change as sustainable thinking gathers
business book’ the author (a former paratrooper credence,” states McManners. “Business will
and veteran of the Falklands War) argues for “a need to ensure it is engaged at local level.
fundamental realignment in the basis of wealth Global companies that are disconnected
that will drastically change the status quo”. from government and society will ﬁ nd it
Adapt and Thrive argues that it is not capitalism increasingly difﬁ cult to do business. Global
that is at fault, but the current mechanisms of synergies will still provide opportunities, but
capitalism that cannot cope. the ability to act locally will be paramount.”
McManners puts the case for reform For businesses who are already well on
across the whole of society and suggests the road to sustainability, this book will be
that it will be the business community that reassuring, for those who have yet to make
becomes the primary agents for change. changes; it will make them squirm in their seats.
SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS December/January 2009 45
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