A s the United Nations (UN) finalizes the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their associated targets, it would be for the first time that there is an agreed operational meaning given to the term 'sustainable development'. While the concept goes back several years, to several thinkers, it was the Brundtland Commission that articulated the concept in a way that led to its wide understanding and use. Simply stated, the commission clarified that 'Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.' 1 But going from a concept to a set of articulated and negotiated meanings that could be commonly accepted by the nations of the UN has involved a journey of over 27 years. Sustainable development acquired its meaning through several discussions, conferences, writings and debates. Within the UN system, it has been a process that went through the

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Chapter 36 of Agenda 21, a key document of the 1992 Earth Summit, emphasised reorienting education towards sustainable development. While two of the Rio conventions, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), developed communication, education and public awareness (CEPA) strategies, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) established their awareness raising, communication and education (ARCE) unit in the secretariat. The concept of education for sustainable development (ESD) largely evolved independently through the leadership of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and has had, as yet, little impact on the programmes of the conventions. However, recent developments seem to lay the foundation for ESD to be integrated into the conventions. UNCCD has started infusing ESD thinking into its educational programmes. The recently concluded CBD Conference of Parties (COP 11) is important because it not only set education high on the agenda but also connected ESD with the CBD approach towards achieving its targets. Similarly, UNFCCC at COP 18 held at Doha saw 33 multilateral agencies announce the formation of the UN Alliance on Climate Change, Training and Public Awareness. The challenge for the ESD community is to carry this process forward and put in place institutional mechanisms to integrate ESD with the goals of the conventions as we move towards 2014 and beyond.

Biodiversity and ESDF ifty years ago, in April of 1961, an international declaration, called the Morges Manifesto, was signed that eventually led to the founding of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). It started by noting that 'All over the world vast numbers of fi ne and harmless wild creatures are losing their lives, or their homes, in an orgy of thoughtless and needless destruction'. 1 WWF in many ways led the campaign to create awareness of the global destruction of nature and threats to species. Its appeal was direct and emotional. In one of its fi rst major campaigns, in 1973, WWF helped the Indian government launch Project Tiger. Two years later, WWF embarked on its fi rst worldwide tropical rainforest campaign, with the launch of an ambitious marine campaign, 'The Seas Must Live'. In 1976, WWF helped set up marine sanctuaries for whales, dolphins and seals and to protect marine turtle nesting sites. From there it went on to the 'Save the Rhino' campaign. Each campaign had a direct appeal. While the campaigns spoke of habitat protection and the food web, these ideas were built around fl agship species, usually charismatic megafauna that carried celebrity status. The concept was to go from a single animal to the larger ecosystem they represented.In September 1962, just a year-and-a-half after the Morges Manifesto, Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring was published in the United States. It was one of the fi rst books to ring an alarm bell on human-induced environmental degradation. It showed how human activity and especially chemicals used as pesticides were raining havoc well beyond their original intent. The book, often credited with the beginning of the new environmental era, started a global debate that, a decade later, got the UN system to take stock of environmental degradation. In 1972, the UN organized the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm. That, in turn, led to the Intergovernmental Conference on Environmental Education at Tbilisi in 1977. The Tbilisi meeting set the foundation of environmental education.In many ways, the wildlife conservation movement and the education programs that went with it remained a parallel, independent stream to the thinking at Tbilisi. While these programs focused on wildlife and habitat protection, they made few links with human lifestyles. The focus was on preventing direct human threats to

the UN SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon highlighted the connection between education and development: 'Our internationally agreed development goals are a complex tapestry and education is the indispensable thread.' The initiative aims to ensure quality, relevant and transformative education for everyone. Its three priorities are to ensure that every child goes to school; the quality of learning is such as to be transformative; and that it inculcates a sense of global citizenship.The Education First Initiative recognizes education, throughout the document, as a major driver of change towards environmental sustainability, sustainable living, gender equality, economic opportunity, health and in inculcating a sense of being a responsible global citizen. As sustainable development goals evolve, the Education First Initiative gives an opportunity for education for sustainable development (ESD) to be integrated into the strategies and work programmes as a key driver to achieve these goals. At a recently held UN DESD Reference Group meeting, during a session to discuss the 'Advancing Policy on ESD', one of the major components of the proposed framework on ESD post 2014, the group noted that the DESD has promoted the use of ESD, built capacity in governments and in NGOs, created a global network of individuals and institutions and has generated several projects that in turn have built a rich base of experience on ESD. This experience needs to be documented and communicated to the relevant policy makers at the local, national and international levels in order to build the necessary credibility for ESD to be used as one of the key tools to achieve sustainability. ESD not only supports quality education at school and higher education levels, but also supports nations in implementing their Sustainable Development strategies and plans, as well as contributes to achieving the goals of the climate change, biodiversity and desertification conventions and the Marrakech process.