Originally published in 2008 as: The necessary revolution : how individuals and organizations are working together to create a sustainable world.

The Necessary Revolution is a book about the end of The Industrial Age Bubble the take, make, waste way of thinking that has dominated the developed world for the past 200 years. It is also a book about a new era emerging in which companies are beginning to recognise the larger systems in which they operate (environmental, social, and economic) and integrate these into their core strategies. Imagine a world in which the excess energy from one business would be used to heat another. A world in which environmentally sound products and processes would be more cost effective than wasteful ones. A world in which corporations like BP, Nike, Coca-Cola, and countless others are forming partnerships with environmental and social justice NGOs to ensure better stewardship of the earth and better livelihoods in the developing world. Now, stop imagining that world is already emerging. We must act together now. THE NECESSARY REVOLUTION offers a toolkit with specific strategies and points of action to help change how organizations think and act. We need to cut carbon dioxide emissions globally by 80% in 20 years. We need to reduce our consumption of water and energy drastically. We need to stop pretending that the problems belong to someone else: in an interconnected world, it doesn t matter whose end of the boat has a hole. There are no good guys and bad guys we are all responsible for our core sustainability issues: food, water, energy, waste, and toxicity. And every one of us has to be part of the solution. Senge and his co-authors tell the story of transformative strategies from innovative companies around the world including: Coca-Cola s commitment to water neutrality, using no more water than it replaces, and its unprecedented collaboration with the World Wildlife Fund to conserve clean water around the world Sony Europe s producer responsibility system that takes back electronic equipment at the end of its lifetime. Ford Motor s new paint system which reduces its CO2 production emissions by 15% Nike s commitment to 100% recyclability of all products by 2020 Costco, WWF, Starbucks, Sysco, Oxfam, Unilever, The Rainforest Alliance and thirty other leading food companies and NGOs working together through The Global Food Lab to bring sustainable agriculture into the mainstream. BP s rapidly growing alternative energy business Sweden s Bio Region, the world s first industrial region in which all energy needs will be met without fossil fuels All of these organisations found new strategic opportunities by seeing the big picture, collaborating across boundaries, and rethinking the way they do business. Brimming with inspiring stories from individuals and organizations tackling social and environmental problems around the globe, THE NECESSARY REVOLUTION reveals how ordinary people at every level are transforming their businesses and communities. By working collaboratively across boundaries, they are exploring and putting into place unprecedented solutions that move beyond just being less bad to creating pathways that will enable us to flourish in an increasingly interdependent world. Initiatives from innovative organizations from every sector from the EU's End of Vehicle Lifetime directive to Nike's new green products to Coke s transformative collaboration with the World Wildlife Fund are proving that by working together, businesses, government, and non-profit organizations are starting to bring about real, sustainable change.