Paul Harrison at Gardens by the Sea in Singapore 2012

Paul Harrison (born 1945 in

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham ...

) is an environmental writer, author of books and reports on environment and development, and editor of major United Nations reports. He is the founder and president of the

World Pantheist Movement The World Pantheist Movement (WPM) is an international organization which promotes naturalistic pantheism, a philosophy which asserts that spirituality should be centered on nature. Paul Harrison is their founder and president. External appearanc ...

. For most of his life, Harrison has been a journalist and writer on the environment, Third-World development and poverty. His best known books are ''Inside the Third World'' (1979) (on world poverty) and ''The Third Revolution'' about world population and environment''.'' Also ''The Greening of Africa'' (1987) about sustainable development for Africa, and ''Inside the Inner City'' (1992) about inner city poverty in East London. His book on

pantheism Pantheism is the belief that reality, the universe and the cosmos are identical with divinity and a supreme supernatural being or entity, pointing to the universe as being an immanent creator deity still expanding and creating, which has ...

, ''Elements of Pantheism'', was published by Element Books in 1999. Harrison has worked for six UN agencies and travelled to many Third-World countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. In 1988 he received a

UN Environment Programme The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the United Nations Conference on th ...

(UNEP)

Global 500 Roll of Honour The Global 500 Roll of Honour was an award given from 1987 to 2003 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The award recognized the environmental achievements of individuals and organizations around the world. A successor system of UNEP ...

award for his writings on environment. In 1988 he won a Global Media Award from the Population Institute. He edited the

United Nations Population Fund The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), formerly the United Nations Fund for Population Activities, is a UN agency aimed at improving reproductive and maternal health worldwide. Its work includes developing national healthcare strategies a ...

's ''State of World Population'', (1990 and 1992) and was editor-in-chief for the Independent Commission on Population and Quality of Life report ''Caring for the Future''. He has edited flagship reports for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO),

(UNFPA) and

United Nations Environment Programme The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the United Nations Conference on th ...

(UNEP). He was the lead author of the American Association for the Advancement of Science ''Atlas of Population and Environmen''t. From 2005 to 2008 he edited the

Yearbook (formerly Geo Yearbook). Harrison was born in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, and has master's degrees in European languages and literature (

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

1963-66) and political sociology (

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

1967-8), and in 1995 a PhD from

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

in Earth Sciences and Geography. PaulHarrisonFirewood

In July 1996 he posted the first page of what became th
scientific pantheism site
and in 1997 he started the mailing list that grew into the

References

External links

Harrison home page & profile
*World Pantheis
Movement
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Paul 1945 births People from Oldham Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge Pantheists Living people English environmentalists Non-fiction environmental writers