Hostname: page-component-7bb8b95d7b-dtkg6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-09-13T09:01:22.820Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Impoverishment, Population, and Environmental Degradation: The Case for Equity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2009

Stephen C. Lonergan
Stephen C. Lonergan
Affiliation:
Director, Centre for Sustainable Regional Development, University of Victoria, PO Box 1700, Victoria, British Columbia V8W 2Y2, Canada.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The discussion above sought to clarify some of the key aspects of the relationships among impoverishment, population, and environmental degradation, and to pose a conceptual framework for addressing the issue. At various times, impoverishment has been identified: as a root cause of environmental degradation; as a proximate cause; and as a contributing factor, merely reinforcing the linkage between environmental degradation and poverty often caused by wealth and greed. Despite an abundance of recent literature on the topic, it is not clear how environmental degradation and impoverishment are linked. What is apparent is that the relationship amongst these elements is complex, multidimensional, conditional and, at present, indeterminate. Although much of the evidence linking impoverishment and environmental degradation is anecdotal, it appears that the key issue is one of equity. Considerations of international equity, national equity, and intergenerational equity, must form the cornerstone of any strategy to confront the joint issues of environmental degradation and impoverishment.

Promoting equity as a key principle or strategy, however, does not reduce the complexity of the issue; equity has an economic dimension, a political dimension, and a social dimension; numerous case-studies can be found to illustrate these dimensions, and a few are noted in our above discussion. This framework is also tied to the goal of sustainable livelihood security, which recognizes that security has both political and environmental components. Despite the complexity of these issues, it is still possible to develop general recommendations to be used as a guide to the design of intervention strategies by agencies providing development assistance. Accordingly, five such recommendations are noted last above.

The conceptual framework developed in this paper sought to extend the work on the impoverishment, population, and environment, issue begun by Leonard (1989), Holmberg (1991), and others. It is clear, however, that much more study of these complex interrelationships is needed before the linkages amongst them are well identified and understood. In addition, it is not enough to accept the importance of equity as a key principle of sustainable livelihood security; development agencies must be willing to act on this principle, and to design intervention strategies which aim at reducing and eliminating the inequities which are a major cause of environmental degradation.

Type
Main Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 20 , Issue 4 , Winter 1993 , pp. 328 - 334
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bartelmus, P. (1986). Environment and Development. Allan and Unwin, Boston, Massachusetts, USA: xxii + 96 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Burz, D. (1992). The Cultural Ecology of High Mountain Communities in the Himalaya. PhD dissertation, Department of Geography, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada [not available for checking].Google Scholar
Butz, D., Lonergan, S. & Smit, B. (1991). Why international development neglects indigenous social reality. Canadian Journal of Development Studies, 12(1), pp. 143–57.Google Scholar
Chambers, R. (1988). Sustainable Rural Livelihoods: a Strategy for People, Environment and Development. Institute for Development Studies, University of Sussex, near Brighton, England, UK: 35 pp.Google Scholar
Canadian International Development Agency (cited as CIDA) (1991). A Strategy for Implementing Sustainable Development. Policy Branch, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: [not available for checking].Google Scholar
Durning, A.B. (1989 a). Action at the Grassroots: Fighting Poverty and Environmental Decline. (WorldWatch Paper 88.) World-watch Institute, Washington, DC, USA: 59 pp.Google Scholar
Durning, A.B. (1989 b). Poverty and the Environment: Reversing the Downward Spiral. (WorldWatch Paper 92.) WorldWatch Institute, Washington, DC, USA: 54 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Durning, A.B. (1990). Apartheid's Environmental Toll. (World-watch Paper 95.) Worldwatch Institute, Washington, DC, USA: 50 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
El-Hinnawi, E. (1985). Environmental Refugees. United Nations Environment Programme, Nairobi, Kenya: x + 27 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Giddens, A. (1984). The Constitution of Society. Polity Press, Oxford, England, UK: xxxvii + 402 pp.Google Scholar
Holmberg, J. (1991). Poverty, Environment and Development: Proposals for Action. Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), Stockholm, Sweden: 50 pp.Google Scholar
Holmrerg, J. & Thompson, K. (1991). Poverty, Environment and Development — A Discussion Paper. International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), London, England, UK: 85 pp.Google Scholar
Homer-Dixon, T. (1991). Environmental Change and Violent Conflict: A Research Agenda. Peace and Conflict Studies Program, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada: 28 pp.Google Scholar
Jacobson, J.L. (1988). Environmental Refugees: A Yardstick of Habitability. (Worldwatch Paper 86.) Worldwatch Institute, Washington, DC, USA: 65 pp.Google Scholar
Jain, L.-C. (1988). Poverty, environment, development. Economic and Political Weekly, 02 13, 2 pp.Google Scholar
Khan, Prince Sadruddin Aga (MS). Refugees: A People Apart. One People Oration, Westminster Abbey, London, England, UK, 20 07 1993, 7 pp. typescript.Google Scholar
Lazarus, D. (1990). New strangers at the door? Refugees, 81, pp. 14–5.Google Scholar
Leonard, H.J. (1989). Environment and the Poor: Development Strategies for a Common Agenda. Overseas Development Council, Washington, DC, USA: x + 222 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Lewis, J. (1988). Strengthening the Poor: What Have We Learned? Transaction Books, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA: xi + 256 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Lonergan, S.C. (1991). Climate Warming, Water Resources and Geopolitical Conflict: A Study of Nations Dependent on the Nile, Litani and Jordan River Systems. (Extra-mural Paper No. 55.) Operational Research and Analysis Establishment, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: ix + 89 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Lonergan, S.C. & Kavanagh, B. (1991). Climate change, water resources and security in the Middle East. Global Environmental Change, 1(4), pp. 272–90.Google Scholar
McInnis, C. (1990). Barren land forces millions to flee homes. The Globe and Mail (Toronto, Ontario, Canada). 04 5, p. A1.Google Scholar
Mellor, J.W. (1988). The intertwining of environmental problems and poverty. Environment, 30(9), pp. 8–13, 29–30.Google ScholarPubMed
Myers, N. (1987). Population, environment, and conflict. Environmental Conservation, 14(1), pp. 15–22.Google Scholar
O'Riordan, T. (1989). The challenge for environmentalism. Pp. 6–21 in New Models in Geography, vol. 1 (Eds Peel, R. & Thrift, N.). Unwin Hyman, London, England, UK: xvi + 256 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Pearce, D., Markandya, A. & Barbier, E. (1989). Blueprint for a Green Economy. Earthscan Publications Ltd, London, England, UK: xvi + 192 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Redclift, M. (1984). Development and the Environmental Crisis. Methuen, London, England, UK: 149 pp.Google Scholar
Renner, M. (1990). Swords Into Ploughshares: Converting to a Peace Economy. (Worldwatch Paper 96.) Worldwatch Institute, Washington, DC, USA: 85 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Westing, A. H. (1989). The environmental component of comprehensive security. Bulletin of Peace Proposals, 20(2), pp. 129–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Westing, A.H. (1992). Environmental refugees: a growing category of displaced persons. Environmental Conservation, 19(3), pp. 201–7, 4 tables.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
World Commission on Environment and Development (cited as WCED) (1987). Our Common Future. Oxford University Press, Walton Street, Oxford, England, UK: xv + 400 pp.Google Scholar