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This paper was commissioned by the Global Education Monitoring Report (GEM Report) as background information to assist in drafting the 2016 report. Recognizing that the current paradigm of development - which is heavily fossil fuel-based, and high on consumption and waste -, is not a viable option for the future, developing countries need to take an alternative path towards sustainable development. All too often developing countries merely imitate solutions which are already being discarded in the west. The confidence levels in their own traditions and good practices are often low. With knowledge which is available today, it is possible to leapfrog from low levels of development to sustainable development without going through conventional fossil fuel-based economies. Education plays a critical role in this transition. This paper gives examples of how education plays and can play a vital role in this process.