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James Gustave Speth

James Gustave Speth is Dean of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and Professor in the Practice of Environmental Policy and Sustainable Development. He was Founder and President of the World Resources Institute; Professor of Law at Georgetown University; Chairman of the U.S. Council on Environmental Quality; and Senior Attorney and Co-founder, Natural Resources Defense Council. 
 
Speth has been deeply involved in a number of projects for the United Nations, most recently serving as Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme and chair of the United Nations Development Group. Among his awards are the National Wildlife Federation’s Resources Defense Award, the Natural Resources Council of America’s Barbara Swain Award of Honor, a 1997 Special Recognition Award from the Society for International Development, the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Environmental Law Institute, and the Blue Planet Prize. His publications include Red Sky at Morning: America and the Crisis of the Global Environment; Worlds Apart: Globalization and the Environment; and articles in Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, Environmental Science and Technology, the Columbia Journal World of Business, and other journals and books.

A Pivotal Moment

A Pivotal Moment

Population, Justice, and the Environmental Challenge

Through a series of essays by leading demographers, environmentalists and reproductive health advocates, A Pivotal Moment offers a new perspective on the complex connection between population dynamics and environmental quality. It presents the latest research on the relationship between population growth and climate change, ecosystem health and other environmental issues. It surveys the new demographic landscape—in which population growth rates have fallen, but human numbers continue to increase.

Global Environmental Governance

Global Environmental Governance

Foundations of Contemporary Environmental Studies

Today's most pressing environmental problems are planetary in scope, confounding the political will of any one nation. How can we solve them?

Global Environmental Governance offers the essential information, theory, and practical insight needed to tackle this critical challenge.

Worlds Apart

Globalization And The Environment

Worlds Apart presents a cohesive set of essays by leading thinkers on the subject of globalization, offering a thoughtful overview of the major environmental issues related to globalization in a clear, reasoned style.

Crossroads

Crossroads

Environmental Priorities For The Future

The environmental movement today is at a critical crossroads. Crossroads: Environmental Priorities for the Future is an in-depth assessment of the movement's successes and failures, and also offers prescriptions for the future. It includes contributions from some of the country's top environmental leaders and activists, including Barry Commoner, Stewart Udall, William K. Reilly, Gus Speth, Jay Hair, Lois Gibbs, Michael Frome, Chuck Little, and William Futrell.