Is the world heading for a population explosion? How many people can the planet sustain? With the world's inhabitants passing the seven billion count and predicted to hit nine billion by 2050, the world is on the brink of a number panic. A new addition to this acclaimed series takes a closer look at what these numbers mean, why women in most parts of the world have fewer children, what societal changes this increase will initiate and how having babies relates to climate change.

This guide integrates concisely the conventional narratives of history with the stories of the continents and communities of Asia, Africa and Latin America.

This guide questions conventional thinking about wealth and poverty—is the opposite of poverty really wealth, or is it safety and sufficiency? Drawing on experience of poor people all over the world, the author gives voice to those whose views are rarely sought and shows how we all need to live more modestly to make poverty history. Jeremy Seabrook has written more than thirty books (including Travels in the Skin Trade and Children of Other Worlds), and has worked as a teacher, social worker, journalist, lecturer, and playwright. He has contributed to many magazines, including the New Statesman and The Ecologist.

“Overseas aid” and “international development” are catch-all terms that cover a multitude of activities—and abuses. This guide explains what “development” actually is—and explores its political and economic roots. It shows what can happen in the name of development and argues for a more organic, social approach with those it seeks to serve as equal partners in the process. Maggie Black has written books for the Oxford University Press, UNICEF, and Oxfam. She has worked as a consultant for UNICEF, Anti-Slavery International, and WaterAid, among others, and has written for the Guardian, The Economist, and BBC World Service.

Wayne Roberts puts under the microscope a global food system that is under strain from climate change and from economic disaster. He shows how a world food system based on supermarkets and agribusiness corporations is unsustainable and looks at new models of producing healthy food from all over the world.

Includes statistics.

From coffee farms in Peru and cocoa production in Ghana to jeans manufacture in China and the Banana War of Guatemala and the Caribbean, this fully revised No-Nonsense Guide tells the human story behind the products we consume. Examining the contest between 'free' and 'fair' trade around the world, David Ransom argues that the key question is not whether trade should be regulated or deregulated, but whether it is to be the master or servant of the people.

"The No Nonsense Guide to Climate Change" charts up-to-the-minute developments on climate change, explores the extent that the human race is responsible for the catastrophes and suggests what can be done to prevent them.

A completely new book on the politics of climate change in a post-Copenhagen world.