Part 1 Starting points -- Part 2 Man and his actions -- Part 3 Time and nature -- Part 4 The interplay between man and nature -- Part 5 The unity and incompatibility of man and nature.

Climate change, species extinction, energy and raw material shortages are global challenges that are directly linked to our economic activity. They affect our very existence and jeopardize our ability to lead a good life today and in the future, both as a society and as individuals. The range of questions for which we need answers seems limitless and finding the "right" path for global change increasingly utopian. How do we maintain an overview in the face of highly complex interrelationships and interactions? How can we distinguish the essential from the non-essential? What fundamental relationships in nature do we need to take into account? What kind of economy is appropriate? What is just? And under what conditions are people willing to change? This book offers orientation. It deals with concepts from the natural sciences, economics and philosophy - including time, thermodynamics, scarcity, responsibility and justice - which enable an understanding of the upcoming transformation to sustainability from different perspectives. Ideally, they serve as guidelines for effective decisions and show how change is possible despite immense challenges. The book is aimed at anyone who wants to contribute to the transformation towards sustainability - whether in politics, business, administration or civil society. The translation was done with the help of artificial intelligence. A subsequent human revision was done primarily in terms of content. This book is a translation of an original German edition. The translation was done with the help of artificial intelligence (machine translation by the service DeepL.com). A subsequent human revision was done primarily in terms of content, so that the book will read stylistically differently from a conventional translation.