In the aftermath of the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, it seems more likely that sustainable economic growth will emerge from the combined efforts of businesses, citizens’ groups, and local governments than via consensus-based global agreements, according to State of the World 2003.

The World Summit itself yielded roughly 280 partnership agreements among businesses and non-governmental groups, including collaboration among the U.N., national governments, NGOs, and the private sector to produce cleaner vehicles, and a “Water for Life” project that will provide clean water and sanitation to the poor in Africa and Central Asia.

The report also notes that disparate communities can be brought together in the service of sustainability to great effect. It documents how environmentalists and religious people are joining forces in an alliance for environmental health and social justice, from the efforts of Buddhist monks in Thailand to combat deforestation, to the climate change campaign of the World Council of Churches.