| Theme
4: THE LINKS BETWEEN POVERTY AND ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION |
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[Myth
9]
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"Poverty is a major cause of environmental degradation" |
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[Myth
10]
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"Large and rapidly growing cities have the worst environmental problems" |
| [Myth 9] |
... "Poverty is a major cause of environmental degradation" |
 Myth
9Pdf (105KB) |
Many international reports claim that poverty is a major cause of environmental degradation, including the World Commission on Environment and Development's report, Our Common Future and UNEP's Geo 2000. There is very little evidence that this is actually the case on a global scale either in rural areas or in urban areas. In urban areas, it is overwhelmingly the consumption patterns of non-poor groups (especially high income groups) and the production and distribution systems that serve them that are responsible for most environmental degradation. The urban poor contribute very little to environmental degradation because they use so few resources and generate so few wastes.There is a strong association between environmental health problems and urban poverty and the confusion between 'environmental health risk' and 'environmental degradation' may explain why urban poverty is thought to contribute to environmental degradation. But the two should not be confused. Most environmental health risks pose no threats to environmental degradation... (the full text is available in the pdf file) |
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| [Myth 10] |
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... "Large and rapidly growing cities have the worst environmental problems" |
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Large cities rarely have the worst urban environments. In terms of environmental health, they usually have better standards than most other urban centres in their nation (and most rural areas). Well governed cities have among the world's best quality of life. There are obvious reasons for why this is so. By concentrating people, enterprises and their wastes - and increasingly motor vehicles - cities can be (and often are) very hazardous places to live and work. As the World Health Organization recognizes, many of the world's most dangerous and life-threatening environments are in urban areas. It is often assumed that cities' environmental problems are made worse by the number of people and their high concentration. But this same concentration provides many potential opportunities... (the full text is available in the pdf file) |
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| Complete
document (including all the myths): The
10 and 1/2 MythsPdf (355KB) |
