[1][2][3][4][5] Alongside these roles, his wide-ranging independent analysis culminated in two critically acclaimed books, Lean Logic and Surviving the Future (published posthumously in 2016).

[3][12][13] From 1995 until his death, he wrote and lectured widely on the environmental and social issues which he expected to have a major impact on the global market economy in the 21st century, including oil depletion and climate change.

He was a regular contributor to both Country Life magazine and BBC Radio 4's Today programme, and was published in Prospect and other journals, as well as in academic literature and popular newspapers.

His Energy and the Common Purpose (2005) helped set the parameters for the field, leading to 2008's UK government feasibility study of the proposal and an All Party Parliamentary report in 2011, authored by Fleming and Shaun Chamberlin.

He later revealed that Fatih Birol – the future Chief Economist of the International Energy Agency – agreed to meet with him after reading the article, and confessed that "you are right… there are maybe six people in the world who understand this".

[24][25] Fleming had a long history with peak oil, having been part of the team who wrote the Ecology Party pamphlet The Reckoning in 1977, which discussed the issue and our need to rethink our use of energy.

As such, a key focus of his work was developing what he called 'the Lean Economy', a vision of how society could hold itself together after the inevitable end of growth, grounded in localisation, community and culture.

[28][29][30][31] He founded The Lean Economy Connection (renamed The Fleming Policy Centre after his death) to work on "the long term, stable, intelligent and culturally rich future which human society could enjoy if we understand the current predicament and respond to it decisively.

[36][42][43] Green Party co-leader Caroline Lucas MP described the paperback as a "beautifully written and nourishing vision of a post-growth economics grounded in human-scale culture and community – rather than big finance", while philosopher Roger Scruton opined that "he writes lucidly and eloquently of the moral and spiritual qualities on which we might draw ... [he] is neither gloomy nor self-deceived but tranquil and inspiring.

– inspired by the growing impact of Fleming's ideas around the world, including testimony from notable individuals such as Roger Scruton, Peter Buffett and Kate Raworth.