” Socialism collapsed because it did not allow the market to tell the economic truth.Capitalism may collapse because it does not allow the market to tell the ecological truth ” as observed by Osytein Dahle , Vice President of Exxon for Norway and the North Sea. This may become true as the diagnosis of Lester R Brown , President of Earth Policy Institute in his book Plan B 3.0 Mobilizing to Save Civilization succintly points out. His big picture analysis supported by convincing data captures the entire gamut of oil and food security scenario , climate change , issues of failing governments and how it impacts long term global economic prosperity.

In each case he has clearly brought out how the context and assumptions have changed over time , new linkages have been formed which were earlier not there ( eg food and oil ) making it necessary to critically relook at “business as usual” and implement Plan B .

Plan B is the message of hope to stop mindless exploitation of natural resources , shift towards renewable energy , higher energy efficiency and stabilzing world population. It talks about numerous initiative in each area already underway and are delivering results. The critical challenge is however how to scale up these efforts across countries to have a meaningful impact.

The missing link is still the policy framework , stakeholder engagement process and delivery machinery which will be able to execute Plan B on a global scale.

This is an excellent must read for all individuals to sensitise themselves to the issues and the possible wayforward .Earth Policy Institute has made available online the entire book and the data files .

Plan B 3.0 Book Link to Earth Policy Institute