Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-30T20:11:42.395Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Environment, Banking, and Education: The Connections and Opportunities*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2009

Colin Lacey
Colin Lacey
Affiliation:
Professor and Co-Director, Education Network for Environment and Development, Arts Building, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QN, England, UK.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The Earth is entering a period or unprecedented change due to the destruction of the natural systems that have enabled and sustained human life over thousands of years. The public debate about the contributing factors to this destruction has begun, and many prominent leaders and major governments have demonstrated their awareness of the problem. Despite the shift in public opinion, and a new awareness, little has been achieved that is likely to prevent further damage. The damage is being caused mainly by processes that are fundamental to the production of food and industrial goods. It follows that preventive action in agricultural and industrial societies will need to be far-reaching and involve a reappraisal of both individual styles of life and major institutions.

The 1990 UN Bergen Conference recognized that education would need to be central to the process of reassessment and redirection. It also recognized that education takes place in the workplace as well as in schools and colleges. This article argues for an education that is linked to the development of a new intelligence. It further argues that banks are key institutions, acting as channels for investment in the future and staffed by highly-qualified professionals who are nevertheless constrained and ‘educated’ by their institutional roles. The article examines the new and emerging responsibilities of institutions such as banks. It proposes some steps towards recognizing and fulfilling these responsibilities, and also towards redirecting the educational and investment functions of banks.

Type
Main Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 19 , Issue 1 , Spring 1992 , pp. 23 - 28
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 1992

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abraham, J., Lacey, C. & Williams, R. (Eds.) (1990). Deception, Demonstration and Debate: Toward a Critical Environment and Development Education. Kogan Page [not available for checking].Google Scholar
Bergen Conference (1990). The Bergen Ministerial Declaration on Sustainable Development in the ECE Region, 16 05 1990 [not available for checking].Google Scholar
Bolin, Bert (1991). Man-induced global change of climate: the IPCC findings and continuing uncertainty regarding preventive action. Environmental Conservation, 18(4), pp. 297–303, 6 figures and 2 tables.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carson, Rachel (1972). Silent Spring. Houghton Mifflin, Boston, Massachusetts, USA: 368 pp.Google Scholar
Galbraith, J. Kenneth (1989). In Pursuit of Simple Truth. Guardian, 28 07 1989.Google Scholar
Goodland, Robert J.A. (in press). Environmental priorities for financing institutions. Environmental Conservation, 19(1), pp. 9–21, 5 tables.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) (1990). Assessment of Global Climate Change, I: Scientific Assessment of Climate Change, xxxix + 365 pp., illustr.; II: Impact Assessment of Climate Change, xv + 260 pp., illustr.; III: Response Strategies Assessment of Climate Change xii + 270 pp., illustr. World Meteorological Organization/United Nations Environment Programme, Geneva, Switzerland.Google Scholar
StappWilliams, B. Williams, B. & Polunin, Nicholas (1991). Global environmental education: towards a way of thinking and acting. Environmental Conservation, 18(1), pp. 13–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar