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This paper describes some of the drivers for 'education for sustainability' that exist in universities and also explores some of the rationales that underpin higher education's reluctance to engage more formally in education for sustainability. It attempts to provide a balanced commentary on the role and capability of higher education in promoting environmental sustainability to students. Because the paper is grounded in higher education learning and teaching discourse it starts by interpreting the term 'education for sustainability' for a broad higher education audience and situates concepts of sustainability within domains of higher education learning and teaching. The paper focuses on Australian and New Zealand universities but introduces developments from around the world for comparative purposes.