A technological revolution on the scale of the Industrial Revolution of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries will be required to meet the challenges of climate change and other environmental constraints to development. World Economic and Social Survey 2011 explains why this revolution will have to be fully realized in developing countries if they are to achieve food security and rural development, minimize the damage from natural hazards and extreme disasters partly induced by climate change, and transform their economies to beat destitution and create productive jobs. Avoiding the climate change tipping point will require fundamental shifts in existing technologies to transform manufacturing, agriculture, living arrangements and infrastructure and thereby reduce greenhouse gas emissions, make more efficient use of natural resources and derivatives, create less waste, preserve biodiversity and reduce social disparities. The Survey assesses options and policies to facilitating a new technological revolution, and the challenges societies face in making it consistent with the overarching objectives of sustainable development and poverty reduction