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Episode details

Radio 4,14 Dec 1969,30 mins

SeriesFrank Fraser Darling - Wilderness and Plenty

Where Does Responsibility Lie?

The Reith Lectures

Available for over a year

The Vice-President of the Conservation Foundation in Washington, DC and renowned ecologist Sir Frank Fraser Darling explores the concept of Man's responsibility for his natural environment in his Reith series entitled 'Wilderness and Plenty'. In his final lecture entitled 'Where Does Responsibility Lie?', Sir Fraser Darling argues that population is almost certain to increase but pollution does not necessarily need to. He argues that technology should use its own inventiveness to decontaminate the world, but asks who would be responsible for enforcing such a policy. Without all nations taking the ethical responsibility for the environment, he concludes, it will take many years for intellectually-led change to filter through and become concrete action plans.

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