Is it possible to continue to feed and clothe ourselves without despoiling the planet for future generations? Can the poorest nations harness the economic opportunities that natural resources provide for long-term economic growth? What kind of framework do we need to deal with these issues? The world's response to these questions has, to date, been incredibly unimpressive. Collier shows how the extreme and contrasting impulses of unchecked profiteering - by individuals, corporations and governments - and backward-looking environmental romanticism have so far thwarted any constructive cooperation. Here he provides an ethical framework on which to agree future policy. And, based on his own ground-breaking research into these issues, he offers realistic and sustainable solutions, that governments and corporations around the world urgently need to adopt. Collier demonstrates, above all else, that our economic and environmental interests are not in fact competing; they are mutually dependent and we will not be able to survive unless we reconcile them now.