Wolfgang Sachs (; born 25 November 1946) is a researcher, writer and university teacher in the field of environment, development, and globalization.
Biography
Sachs studied sociology and
Catholic theology in Munich, Tübingen and Berkeley. He holds a master's degree in
sociology
Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...
(1971), a master's degree in
theology
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
(1972) and a PhD in
social science
Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soc ...
s (1975).
After a period (1975–1984) as assistant professor at the
Technical University of Berlin
The Technical University of Berlin (official name both in English and german: link=no, Technische Universität Berlin, also known as TU Berlin and Berlin Institute of Technology) is a public research university located in Berlin, Germany. It was ...
he joined the
Society for International Development in Rome as a co-editor of the journal Development. 1987–1990 he was visiting professor at
Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...
and 1990–1993 fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities in Essen.
In 1992 he edited and co-authored the volume ''The Development Dictionary: A Guide to Knowledge as Power'' (London: Zed Books), by now a 'classic' in (Post-)Development Studies, which has been translated into a dozen languages. A new edition, including a new preface, was published in 2010.
Since 1993 Sachs has worked at the
Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy
The Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy (official German name: ) is a German research institution for sustainability research focusing on impacts and practical application. It explores and develops models, strategies and inst ...
, since 2009 as head of the Berlin Office. He served also as chairman of Greenpeace Germany from 1993 to 2001, and as a lead author in the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is an intergovernmental body of the United Nations. Its job is to advance scientific knowledge about climate change caused by human activities. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) a ...
from 1999 to 2001. On behalf of the
Heinrich Böll Foundation
The Heinrich Böll Foundation (german: Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung e.V., HBS) is a German, legally independent political foundation. Affiliated with the German Green Party, it was founded in 1997 when three predecessors merged. The foundation was n ...
, he chaired two international civil society expert panels, one to draft a memorandum for the
World Summit on Sustainable Development
The World Summit on Sustainable Development 2002, took place in South Africa, from 26 August to 4 September 2002. It was convened to discuss ustainable developmentorganizations, 10 years after the first Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. (It was the ...
in Johannesburg in 2002 (''The Jo'burg Memo'') and the other (also on behalf of Misereor) to carry out a Dialogue / Report on multilateral trade rules for sustainable markets in agriculture (''Slow Trade – Sound Farming'', 2007). He is also Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the annual fair "Terra Futura" in
Florence, Italy
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
a Curator of the annual "Toblach Talks" in
Toblach
Toblach (; it, Dobbiaco ) is a ''comune''/''Gemeinde'' (municipality) in South Tyrol in northern Italy, located in the Puster Valley about northeast of the city of Bolzano, on the border with Austria.
Geography
As of November 30, 2010, it had ...
, Italy, and a co-organizer of the annual "Spiekeroog Climate Talks" on the island of
Spiekeroog, Germany. Sachs is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of
.
Furthermore, he is the principal author of ''Fair Future: Resource Conflicts, Security and Global Justice'' and ''Sustainable Germany in a Globalized World'', both major studies produced by the Wuppertal Institute.
Sachs is also a member of the
Club of Rome
The Club of Rome is a nonprofit, informal organization of intellectuals and business leaders whose goal is a critical discussion of pressing global issues. The Club of Rome was founded in 1968 at Accademia dei Lincei in Rome, Italy. It consists ...
, a lecturer at
Schumacher College
Schumacher College is a college near Totnes, Devon, England which offers ecology-centred degree programmes, short courses and horticultural programmes. The College is internationally renowned for its experiential approach to learning, encouragin ...
and an honorary professor at the
University of Kassel
The University of Kassel (german: link=no, Universität Kassel) is a university founded in 1971 located in Kassel, Hessen, in central Germany. As of February 2022 it had about 25,000 students and about 3300 staff, including more than 300 prof ...
, Germany.
Ideas
In 1993, Wolfgang Sachs summarised
sufficiency with "four Ds":
[Wolfgang Sachs, "Die vier E’s: Merkposten für einen maßvollen Wirtschaftsstil", ''Politische Ökologie'', 1993.]
* Decelerate (going slower and less far);
* De-clutter (accumulate fewer things);
* Decentralize (choosing local and regional) ;
* Decommercialization (leaving less room for the
market
Market is a term used to describe concepts such as:
*Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand
*Market economy
*Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market
Geography
*Märket, an ...
in your life).
Selected publications
*Sachs, Wolfgang; ''Zukunftsfähiges Deutschland in einer globalisierten Welt (Sustainable Germany in a Gobalized World)'', published by Brot für die Welt, eed and BUND – Frankfurt/Main: Fischer, 2008 (main author).
*Sachs, Wolfgang; ''Climate Change and Human Rights''. In: ''Development'', 51 (2008), 332–337.
*Sachs, Wolfgang & Santarius, Tilman et al.; ''Slow Trade – Sound Farming. A Multilateral Framework for Sustainable Markets in Agriculture'', – Berlin: Heinrich Böll Foundation & Misereor, 2007. Also available in Spanish, French, Arabic, Czech.
*Sachs, Wolfgang & Santarius, Tilman et al.; ''Fair Future. Resource Conflicts, Security, and Global Justice''. – London: Zed Books, 2007. Also available in German, Italian, Spanish.
*Sachs, Wolfgang; ''Environment and Human Rights''. – Wuppertal: Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie, 2003.
*Sachs, Wolfgang; ''Fair Wealth: Eight Shifts towards a Light Economy''. In: Manzini, Ezio (ed.): ''Sustainable Everyday: Scenarios of Urban Life''. – Milan: Edizioni Ambiente, 2003, 41–44.
*Sachs, Wolfgang (ed.); ''The Jo'burg Memo: Fairness in a Fragile World. Memorandum for the World Summit on Sustainable Development''. – Berlin: Heinrich Böll Foundation, 2002. – (World Summit papers). Also available in German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Arabic, French, Turkish, Thai, Indonesian, Hindi, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Khmer, Urdu.
*Sachs, Wolfgang; ''Development and Global Environmental Change''. In: Timmerman, Peter (ed.): ''Encyclopedia of Global Environmental Change : volume 5''. – Chichester
.a. Wiley, 2002, 150–162.
*Sachs, Wolfgang; ''Globalization and Sustainability : an essay''. – Berlin : Heinrich Böll Foundation, 2000. – (World Summit paper ; 6) – also in German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese.
*Sachs, Wolfgang; ''Being and buying: the Power of Limits – an Inquiry into new Models of Wealth''. In: ''New perspectives quarterly'', 17 (2000), 4, 14–26.
*Sachs, Wolfgang; ''Planet Dialectics: Explorations in Environment and Development''. – London
.a.: Zed Books
.a. 1999. Also available in German and Japanese.
*Sachs, Wolfgang; ''Rich in Things, Poor in Time: Poverty of Time Degrades the Wealth of Goods''. In: ''Resurgence'', 1999, 196, 14–18.
*Sachs, Wolfgang; Loske, Reinhard & Linz, Manfred; ''Greening the North: A Post-industrial Blueprint for Ecology and Equity''. – London
.a. Zed Books, 1998. Also available in German, Italian and Japanese.
*Sachs, Wolfgang; ''Speed limits''. In: Millar, Jeremy (ed.): ''Speed: Visions of an Accelerated Age''. – London: The Photographers' Gallery, 1996, 123–130.
*Sachs, Wolfgang; ''Sustainable Development''. In: Redclift, Michael (ed.): ''The International Handbook of Environmental Sociology''. – Cheltenham
.a.: Elgar, 1997, 71–82.
*Sachs, Wolfgang (ed.); ''Global Ecology : A new Arena of Political Conflict''. – London
.a.: Zed Books
.a. 1993. Also available in German.
*Sachs, Wolfgang (ed.); ''The Development Dictionary: A Guide to Knowledge as Power''. – London
.a. Zed Books
.a. 1992. Available editions and translations: Spanish, South African, Indonesian, Indian, Japanese, Thai, Italian, Persian, Portuguese, Mexican, Serbian, French.
*Sachs, Wolfgang: ''For Love of the Automobile: Looking Back into the History of Our Desires''. – Berkeley, Calif.: Univ. of California Press, 1992. Also published in German and Japanese.
See also
*
Eco-sufficiency
Eco-sufficiency, or simply sufficiency, refers to the concept or strategy to reduce the environmental footprint of societies through moderating the need for energy, carbon and material-based services and products. The term was popularised by author ...
References
External links
Stock Exchange Of Visions: Visions of Wolfgang Sachs (Video Interviews)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sachs, Wolfgang
University of Kassel faculty
Development specialists
1946 births
Living people