13 / 192
[
] 13
Achim Steiner, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme
The publication of
Tomorrow Today
by UNESCO is a contribution to the ongoing dialogue on
integrating principles and practices of sustainable development in all aspects of education and
learning – an idea engendered by the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development
(DESD).
When assessing the multifaceted links between the environment and development it is apparent
that the world is a series of inter-connected causes and effects. Debts held by banks in New York
may affect the way timber is harvested in Brazil. Subsidies paid to sugar beet farmers in France may
affect a farmer’s ability to survive in Mauritius. Chemicals used in Germany may affect the health of
children in Australia and gold extraction in Africa or Amazonia can lead to mercury contamination
of fish far away.
The connections are virtually endless and are no longer just a matter for academic debate. As
the world moves towards a more sustainable Green Economy, education will play an even more
central role in shaping our values, and equipping us with necessary knowledge and requisite skills
to reshape our production processes and change consumption habits.
However advanced new technologies may be, however innovative may be the response of
science, and however disposed governments may be to apply them, complete and decisive success
in achieving sustainability will only occur if decision makers, governments, business, communities
and individuals are convinced of the benefits and opportunities of a healthy, equitable, self-
sustaining and abundant world – allowing for the provision of decent jobs and livelihoods
within an environment liberated from the risks and threats of climate change, pollution, resource
depletion and ecosystem degradation.
This publication can contribute towards this transition by shifting understanding and thus
open societies to the possibility of change, in turn leading to the promotion of new actions and
behaviours – ultimately leading to a total and comprehensive paradigm change in the way we
interact with the natural world.