In a capacity crowd at Belgrade’s Allure Caramel Hotel, professor Jeffrey Sachs presented his latest book entitled The Age of Sustainable Development. The book presented in Belgrade on November 19th is the Serbian-language edition, co-published by the Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development (CIRSD) and “Službeni glasnik.” The English-language printed edition is expected to come out in early 2015.
“The future is not a destiny, but rather a matter of choice,” Sachs said, explaining further that the possibility of choice is perhaps the most important human reality, and that mankind holds the future the future of development as well as their survival in their hands.
Sachs warned that “we unintentionally keep destroying the planet by pollution which is proving to be overwhelming for Earth and its limited resources.” He reminded the audience that the consequences of WWI are being felt even today, noting thereby that humanity would not have the chance in 100 years to correct the mistake made in 2014.
CIRSD President Vuk Jeremić said that The Age of Sustainable Development represents CIRSD’s first publishing project.
Jeremić said that the concept of sustainable development will have an impact on lives of this generation, underscoring the United Nations’ intention to adopt a new strategy on this matter in 2015.
Jeremić said that Sachs in his book offers a comprehensive concept of development for the challenges of the future, many of pertain not only to the economy, but equally to protecting the environment and advancing social equality.
“This in a sense represents an opening of our region to the world, especially after having directly experienced the perils of climate change earlier this year, and having had no previous opportunity to engage with key international issues—often having been too self-observing and isolated, and thus forced to deal with itself as an international issue.”
The event also featured a presentation by a professor of the Faculty for Economics, Finance and Administration (FEFA) Goran Pitić, who said that he felt the book could be characterized as abundant with values, important economic and ethical standpoints, and issues deriving from author’s rich personal experience.
According to Pitić, the book is simultaneously permeated with optimism and possibilities for chance, but also with various calls for humanity to think about the future.
“Sustainable development is the biggest challenge of the new age,” he argued, and added that the key issue remains how to achieve economic growth while staying ecologically efficient.
Photo gallery from the event can be viewed here.
