Bruce Rich
Encyclopedia
Bruce Rich is an American writer and lawyer who has published extensively on the environment in developing countries and development in general. He is the author of a critique and history of the World Bank
, and was awarded the United Nations Global 500 Award for environmental achievement
for his research and advocacy concerning multilateral development bank
s. His most recent book, "To Uphold the World: The Message of Ashoka
and Kautilya for the 21st Century", is a philosophical and historical reflection on the need for a global ethic in a global economy. He has also published extensively on the role of Export Credit Agencies in developing countries, especially concerning the environmental impact of projects funded by them.
Since the 1980s Rich worked as an attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council
and the Environmental Defense Fund. He has also worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development, the United Nations Environment Program, the World Resources Institute
, the U.S. Congress Office of Technology Assessment
and the World Bank. He also testified in Congressional hearings on U.S. participation in international financial institutions. He has written numerous articles and opeds on international development and environment in publications such as The Nation
, The Financial Times, The Ecologist
, and Environmental Forum, the policy journal of the Environmental Law Institute
. He has lectured widely at universities and colleges around the U.S. He is currently researching and writing a new book on the World Bank, with a special focus on the issues of climate and corruption.
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
, and was awarded the United Nations Global 500 Award for environmental achievement
Global 500 Roll of Honour
The United Nations Environment Programme established the Global 500 Roll of Honour in 1987 to recognize the environmental achievements of individuals and organizations around the world.The last Global 500 Roll of Honour awards were made in 2003...
for his research and advocacy concerning multilateral development bank
Multilateral Development Bank
A multilateral development bank is an institution, created by a group of countries, that provides financing and professional advising for the purpose of development. MDBs have large memberships including both developed donor countries and developing borrower countries...
s. His most recent book, "To Uphold the World: The Message of Ashoka
Ashoka
Ashok Maurya or Ashoka , popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was an Indian emperor of the Maurya Dynasty who ruled almost all of the Indian subcontinent from ca. 269 BC to 232 BC. One of India's greatest emperors, Ashoka reigned over most of present-day India after a number of military conquests...
and Kautilya for the 21st Century", is a philosophical and historical reflection on the need for a global ethic in a global economy. He has also published extensively on the role of Export Credit Agencies in developing countries, especially concerning the environmental impact of projects funded by them.
Since the 1980s Rich worked as an attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council
Natural Resources Defense Council
The Natural Resources Defense Council is a New York City-based, non-profit, non-partisan international environmental advocacy group, with offices in Washington DC, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Beijing...
and the Environmental Defense Fund. He has also worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development, the United Nations Environment Program, the World Resources Institute
World Resources Institute
The World Resources Institute is an environmental think tank founded in 1982 based in Washington, D.C. in the United States.WRI is an independent, non-partisan and nonprofit organization with a staff of more than 100 scientists, economists, policy experts, business analysts, statistical analysts,...
, the U.S. Congress Office of Technology Assessment
Office of Technology Assessment
The Office of Technology Assessment was an office of the United States Congress from 1972 to 1995. OTA's purpose was to provide Congressional members and committees with objective and authoritative analysis of the complex scientific and technical issues of the late 20th century, i.e. technology...
and the World Bank. He also testified in Congressional hearings on U.S. participation in international financial institutions. He has written numerous articles and opeds on international development and environment in publications such as The Nation
The Nation
The Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...
, The Financial Times, The Ecologist
The Ecologist
The Ecologist is a British environmental publication founded in 1970 by Edward Goldsmith. It addresses a wide range of environmental subjects and promotes an ecological systems thinking approach through its news stories, investigations and opinion articles. The Ecologist encourages its readers to...
, and Environmental Forum, the policy journal of the Environmental Law Institute
Environmental Law Institute
The Environmental Law Institute is a non-profit, non-advocacy environmental group, which specializes in producing publications and research that target legal practitioners, business leaders, land managers, land use planners, environmentalists, journalists, and lawmakers...
. He has lectured widely at universities and colleges around the U.S. He is currently researching and writing a new book on the World Bank, with a special focus on the issues of climate and corruption.
Publications
- “To Uphold the World: The Message of Ashoka and Kautilya for the 21st Century", with a Forward by Amartya SenAmartya SenAmartya Sen, CH is an Indian economist who was awarded the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to welfare economics and social choice theory, and for his interest in the problems of society's poorest members...
and an Afterword by His Holiness the Dalai LamaDalai LamaThe Dalai Lama is a high lama in the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" branch of Tibetan Buddhism. The name is a combination of the Mongolian word далай meaning "Ocean" and the Tibetan word bla-ma meaning "teacher"...
, Penguin/Viking India, 2008. * US Edition: "To Uphold the World: A Call for a New Global Ethic from Ancient India", Boston, Beacon Press, 2010, ISBN 978-0807006139 http://www.beacon.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=2143 - “The World Bank Under James Wolfensohn”, in J.R. Pincus and J.A. Winters, eds., Reinventing the World Bank, Cornell University Press, 2002.
- “Exporting Destruction”, in Steve Hiatt, ed. A Game As Old As EmpireA Game as Old as EmpireA Game as Old as Empire is a collection of accounts from investigators, journalists and activists calling themselves "economic hitmen", about global affairs...
. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, San Francisco, 2007. - "Mortgaging the Earth: The World Bank, Environmental Impoverishment, and the Crisis of Development" (Beacon Press, Boston, 1994, 1995; Earthscan, London, 1994).