Earthscan, the world''s leading publisher on environment, development and sustainability, marks 20 years of publishing this month. May 1988 saw the publication of our first two titles, Women and Environment in the Third World and The Greening of Aid, demonstrating how integral environmental issues are to social and economic development and also the commitment to innovative solutions and social justice that has been at the heart of its publishing.

In the 2 decades since, environmental threats and the challenge of sustainability have moved to the very centre of political, business and, increasingly, personal agendas. Earthscan has charted and often led this process with a succession of  inflential and award-winning books, such as Blueprint for a Green Economy, Al Gore’s Earth in the Balance, Amory Lovins’ Factor Four, Tim Lang’s Food Wars, Chris Goodall’s How to Live a Low-Carbon Life, and Jonathon Porritt’s Capitalism As If the World Matters.

Today, the scale, urgency and difficulty of the problems are reflected in the media: Food miles or farming livelihoods in Africa? Wind farms or wildlife in the Hebrides? Biofuels or food security throughout the world? The debates revolve around the question of whether we can live withnig the Earth''s environmental limits, creating a low-carbon economy that delivers equitable and environmentally sustainable development. Earthscan''s publishing has expended to match the growth in awareness and the need for reliable information With 100 titles due out this year and 900 in the backlist, it continues to publish accurate, enlightened and effective books and journals on all aspects of research and debate on sustainability.

Describing their acheivement, Camilla Toulmin, Executive Director of the International Insitute for the Environment and Development, commented “In twenty years, Earthscan has given us the solid evidence and provoking insights that light the way to a more sustainable planet