ENVIRONMENT

The poorest people in the worlds poorest countries will

suffer the earliest and the most from climate change.
World Bank Annual Environmental Review,
Environment Matters

7 issues on environment and

development
Sustainable development
Linkage between environment and
population and resources
Poverty
Economic growth
Rural development
Urbanization
The global economy

SCOPE OF ENVIRONMENTAL
DEGRADATION
Health hazards created by various
problems such as:
Lack of access to clean water and sanitation
Indoor air pollution from biomass fuels (wood,
straw, and manure)
Deforestation and severe soil degradation;
Mostly pertain to households lack of economic
alternatives to unsustainable patterns of living

Principal health and productivity

consequences of environmental damage

RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND THE

ENVIRONMENT

Interaction between rural poverty and

environmental degradation: hypothetical
developing-world villages (Africa and South
America)
African village:
Declining output due to shortages
People resort to cutting the trees
Role of women in agriculture sector
South America:
Majority of farmers are newcomers under
public resettlement program
No shortage of resources but land is
infertile low output
Low household incomes

 In reality: 70-80% of poor in LDCs reside in

agricultural sector
Small farmers resort to use resources that lead to
a reduction in the future productivity of
environmental assets due to economic necessity
Persistent poverty usually the root cause

Results of environmental pressure in rural

areas:
Soil erosion leads to persistent decline in local
per capita food production and eventually ruralurban migration
Deforestation leads to lower agricultural yeilds
and increase rural hardships

URBAN DEVELOPMENT AND THE

ENVIRONMENT

Ecology of urban slums

Similar conditions of families living in urban

areas to that of rural areas:

Families work long hours

Uncertain income
Difficult trade-offs: expenditure on nutrition,
medical care, and education

Urban centers of LDCs will absorb over 80%

of future increases in world population due
mainly to rural-urban migration
Health implications: urban congestion and
industrial emission; exposure to high
concentrations of toxic pollutants as well as
pathogens in contaminated air and water
Increase in mortality and morbility in urban
areas bronchitis and diarrhea

 Industrialization and urban air pollution

Early stages of industrialization and
urbanization in LDCs are coupled with
rising incomes and worsening
envrionmental conditions
Principal sourses of air pollution: energy
use, vehicular emissions, industrial
production
Industrialization - may lead to increase in
waste directly or indirectly

 Problems of congestion and availability of

clean water and sanitation
Two most important factors affecting health:
inaccessbility of clean water and lack of
sanitation (i.e. South Asia 66% of
population had no access to improved
sanitation facilities)
Common diseases: cholera, typhoid,
paratyphoid
Large economic costs due to lost
productivity and expensive medical care
Lack of access to medical services
Lack of investments in infrastructure
required for provision of urban water and
sanitation

TRADITIONAL ECONOMIC MODELS

OF ENVIRONMENT
Privately owned resources
Common property resources
Public goods and bads

POLICY OPTIONS IN DEVELOPING AND

DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
What LDCs can do
Proper resource pricing
Community involvement
Clearer property rights and resource
ownership
Programs to improve the economic
alternatives of poor
Raise economic status of women
Industrial emission abatement policies

 How DCs can help

Trade policies
Debt relief: debt-for-nature swaps
Development assistance

What DCs can do for global

environment
Emission controls
Research and development
Import restrictions