Meeting the Needs of the Poor and Protecting the Environment

How can we improve the living standards of the world's poor while also protecting the environment? This critical question is explored in new report by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which says rising populations, increasing demand for consumer goods, and persistent poverty are placing unprecedented pressures on ecosystems and infrastructures in developing countries that are already in desperate need of repair. The State of World Population 2001 report says population pressures on the environment are increasing in both urban and rural areas as people seek better conditions.

Rapid urbanization presents a major challenge. In the less-developed regions of the world, the number of city dwellers is expected to double in the next 30 years and the cities themselves are ill equipped to handle the newcomers. Mountains of garbage, already a common sight in many cities, pose risks of fire, exposure to toxic substances and disease. Water supply and sewage disposal are also problems. Already Mexico City and the cities of northern India and China have seriously lowered the water tables in surrounding areas to meet the growing demand for water by industry, farmers and households.

Cities in many parts of the developing world are growing at twice the rate of overall population growth, placing hard-to-meet demands on already overburdened social services. In addition, up to half the population of many urban centres is living in squatter settlements or shanty towns, which are highly vulnerable to catastrophic events like floods, storms or earthquakes.

Rural areas also face increasing pressures. Rapid population growth in the past 50 years has doubled and redoubled poor rural populations, while their resource base has been sharply reduced by overuse and commercial exploitation. Widespread deforestation and soil and water degradation threaten the livelihoods of millions of people. In Asia, 39 per cent of people live in areas prone to drought and desertification. In Africa, 65 per cent of the total agricultural land is degraded and 90 per cent of people depend on firewood and other biomass for energy.

In the developing world as a whole, some 2 billion people rely on wood, dung and other biomass fuels for cooking and heating, and use them in polluting and inefficient ways. These fuels produce soot and other substances that are linked to acute respiratory infections, chronic lung disease, eye problems, and low birth weight.

Between 1.5 billion and 2 billion people have no access to electricity. They spend countless hours gathering fuel and pay higher unit prices for energy in small amounts from batteries, candles, kerosene and charcoal. A survey in Uganda showed that more households in the country derive electricity from car batteries than are connected to the public power grid. One of the greatest challenges is finding a way to increase affordable energy without damaging people's health and the environment. Solar power offers one solution since it is cheaper and easier to install, especially in remote areas, than expensive power grids.

The desire to integrate into the global economy or to offset losses in financial crises has motivated many developing countries to increase their exploitation of natural resources, often for export.

While intensive agriculture has increased yields in many rural areas, it has generally provided cheap food for increasing urban populations rather than a living for rural people. Commercial agriculture and timber operations leave little land for the rural poor who often use and overuse whatever land, water and timber are left to survive. The combined results can be seen in bare hillsides, shrinking watercourses, floods, droughts and vanishing wildlife, the report says.

The report recommends increasing the resource base of the poor to reduce their dependence on marginal lands and fragile resources, finding alternatives to biomass fuels, and supporting clean technologies. It also urges action to promote gender equality and increased investment in basic infrastructure such as sanitation, water, education, and health care, including reproductive health care and family planning to improve people's lives and slow population growth. A key policy recommendation is the institution of appropriate pricing policies to encourage more efficient use of electricity, water and fertilizers.

Another recommendation is increased local control and management, which, the report says, may hold the key to more sustainable use of resources and improved livelihoods. Studies indicate that the condition of Nepal's forests has improved since management was decentralized to communities. Local control may be more effective than government efforts in limiting illegal logging, fishing, water use, and theft, but government participation can help offset the high cost and delayed benefits of investments in conservation, the report concludes.