Earthscan is an English-language publisher of books and journals on climate change, sustainable development and environmental technology for academic, professional and general readers.

History

The Earthscan Publications imprint was founded by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) in the 1980s and was run from 1987 by Neil Middleton. After making a loss, Earthscan became an independent publisher, moving initially to Kogan Page, although still printing many books emanating from IIED research. These included ''Desertification'' (), by Alan Grainger, first published in 1982. ''Natural Disasters: Acts of God, or Acts of Man?'' () by

Anders Wijkman Anders Ivar Sven Wijkman (born 30 September 1944 in Stockholm) is a Swedish politician (Swedish: ''Kristdemokraterna'', KD) who was Member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2009. As member of the European Parliament, he focused on issues ...

and Lloyd Timberlake was published in 1984, and in May 1988 two titles were published: ''Women and Environment in the Third World'' (which discusses, among other topics, the

Chipko movement The Chipko movement ( hi, chipko andolan, italic=yes, lit= reehugging movement) is a forest conservation movement in India. The movement originated in 1973 at the Himalayan region of Uttarakhand (then part of Uttar Pradesh) and went on to beco ...

) and ''The Greening of Aid''. In August 2009, Earthscan launched their ''Earthcasts'' series of free hour-long interactive

Webcast A webcast is a media presentation distributed over the Internet using streaming media technology to distribute a single content source to many simultaneous listeners/viewers. A webcast may either be distributed live or on demand. Essentially, web ...

sessions on

sustainability Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livi ...

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

and

Corporate Social Responsibility Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a form of international private business self-regulation which aims to contribute to societal goals of a philanthropic, activist, or charitable nature by engaging in or supporting volunteering or ethicall ...

. Notable figures who have participated in the series include Tim Jackson and Robert Costanza. In October of the same year, Earthscan acquired the publishing assets of RFF Press, the publishing imprint of

Resources for the Future Resources for the Future (RFF) is an American nonprofit organization, founded in 1952 that conducts independent research into environmental, energy, and natural resource issues, primarily via economics and other social sciences. Headquartered in ...

. In March 2010, Earthscan won three

Independent Publishing Awards The Independent Publishers Guild (IPG), founded in 1962, is an association set up to support the needs of independent firms in the publishing industry in the United Kingdom, with a current membership of more than 600 companies. The IPG is a not-for ...

, including the top prize of Independent Publisher of the Year, becoming only the second publishing company to win three Independent Publishing Awards in a single year. In January 2011, Earthscan's name and the backlist was bought by one of the "big four" academic publishers,

Taylor & Francis Taylor & Francis Group is an international company originating in England that publishes books and academic journals. Its parts include Taylor & Francis, Routledge, F1000 (publisher), F1000 Research or Dovepress. It is a division of Informa ...

, for an undisclosed sum. The Earthscan imprint is still used, and sits under the

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, and ...

imprint. Several staff lost their jobs and the London office was closed. Earthscan authors include Lester Brown,

Walt Patterson Walter C Patterson (born November 4, 1936) is a UK-based Canadian physicist and widely published writer and campaigner on energy. Patterson was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and educated at the University of Manitoba. Patterson arrived in th ...

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic Part ...

(''

Earth in the Balance ''Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit'' (, paperback ) is a 1992 book written by Al Gore, published in June 1992, shortly before he was elected Vice President in the 1992 presidential election. Known by the short title ''Earth i ...

''), the IPCC, Tim Jackson ('' Prosperity Without Growth''), Amory Lovins (''

Natural Capitalism ''Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution'' is a 1999 book on environmental economics co-authored by Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins and Hunter Lovins. It has been translated into a dozen languages and was the subject of a Harvard B ...

''), Molly Scott Cato, Jonathon Porritt,

Felix Dodds Felix Dodds is a British author, futurist, and activist. Born as Michael Nicholas Dodds he took the name Felix Dodds, when he was 18. He stood in Mid Derbyshire (UK Parliament constituency) for the Liberal Democrats in the 2019 General Electio ...

Chris Goodall Christopher Frank William Goodall (born 29 December 1955) is an English businessman, author and expert on new energy technologies. He is an alumnus of St Dunstan's College, University of Cambridge, and Harvard Business School (MBA). Biography ...

(''

How to Live a Low-Carbon Life ''How to Live a Low-Carbon Life: The Individual's Guide to Stopping Climate Change'' is a 2007 book by Chris Goodall, published by Earthscan/Routledge. According to ''New Scientist'', this book provides "the definitive guide to reducing your car ...

''), Oliver Payne (''Inspiring Sustainable Behaviour: 19 Ways to Ask for Change''),

Clive Hamilton Clive Charles Hamilton AM FRSA (born 12 March 1953) is an Australian public intellectual and Professor of Public Ethics at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics (CAPPE) and the Vice-Chancellor's Chair in Public Ethics at Charles ...

(''

Requiem for a Species ''Requiem for a Species: Why We Resist the Truth about Climate Change'' is a 2010 non-fiction book by Australian academic Clive Hamilton which explores climate change denial and its implications. It argues that climate change will bring about l ...

''), and

Sakiko Fukuda-Parr Sakiko Fukuda-Parr (サキコ・フクダ・パー、福田咲子) (born 1950) is a development economist who has gained recognition for her work with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and for her writing in publications including ...

Notes and references

External links

* Book publishing companies of the United Kingdom Environmental publishers Publishing companies established in 1982 {{publishing-stub