Poverty reduction and sustainable development

　2.3 　

poverty with faster environmental degradation 　 小荷作文网 www.zww.cn

　　 　

Faster economic growth in developing countries can lead to fast 　

environmental degradation. The general consensus seems to be that poverty is a 　

major cause of environmental degradation. 《Duraiappa 2169》 For example, in one 　

of the conclusions of the Bruntland Commission report, which incidentally has 　

been accepted as the blueprint for environmental conservation, it is explicitly 　

stated that poverty is a major cause of environmental problems and amelioration 　

of poverty is a necessary and central condition of any effective program to 　

deal with environmental concerns. 　

As is mentioned above, the poor people mainly 　

rely on the natural resources. Water, soil, forest, animals and so on supported 　

their living for a thousand years. The vast uses of natural resources degrade 　

the environment. It has been proved that degradation of soil and vegetative resources 　

already threatens agricultural productivity, biodiversity, and water quality and 　

availability in many ‘hot spots’ in the developing world. Soils in about 16% of 　

agricultural land area in developing countries, and a higher proportion of crop 　

and dry lands, have degraded moderately or severely since mid-century, mainly 　

through soil erosion, nutrient depletion and salinization. 《Scherr 480》 Unfortunately, 　

environmental 　

degradation will in return fasten poverty. The burden of 　

the 　

costs to environmental 　

degradation falls most heavily on vulnerable groups. The 　

poor are exposed to 　

greater environmental risks than the higher income 　

groups and lack the resources to mitigate those risks. Environmental health influences often have 　

more severe repercussions on the poor than on the non-poor, because the non-poor are likely 　

to have more resources to deal with such events, and have better accesses to health and education services 　

in general. Environmental impacts and natural disasters can also result in a 　

loss of income or assets that is more detrimental for the livelihoods of the poor than for the non-poor. 　

It is estimated 　

that the impact of environmental degradation for the poor relative to the non-poor 　

is 　

20 percent higher per 1,000 people, and 4.5 times higher per unit of income, highlighting 　

the importance of environmental degradation as a barrier to reducing 　

inequality.《World 　

Bank 15》 　

　

3. A sustainable poverty reduction program 　

　 No doubtfully, poverty is a threat to 　

sustainable development. It is necessary to get more people out poverty if we 　

are to achieve sustainable development. Oreover, as poverty is seen as an 　

obstacle to sustainable development, then everything should be done to limit 　

the damage caused by poor people. It is said that 　

sustained development requires a comprehensive framework that includes: 1》 good 　

governance; 2》 sound legal, incentive, and regulatory frameworks that protect 　

property rights, enforce contracts and stimulate competitive markets, 3》 a 　

sound financial sector, adequately regulated and supervised with a basis in 　

internationally accepted accounting and auditing standards; 4》 health, 　

education and social services that reach the poor, women and girls effectively; 　

5》 quality infrastructure and public services to promote rural development and 　

livable cities; and 6》 policies to promote environmental and human 　

sustainability. 《World Bank 15》 Based on these contents, we think a sustainable 　

poverty reduction program should pay attention to and take actions on putting 　

forward to a good and enough governance agenda, regulating and supervising 　

financial system, improving health, education and social services and making 　

effective policies. 　

　

　 3.1 Putting forward to a good and enough 　

governance agenda 　

Good governance is a necessity for 　

development and poverty reduction. Various studies suggest that good 　

governance is a major contributor to development, while people living in ineffective 　

or venal states suffer from a lack of economic and social development.《World Bank 65》 Moreover, good 　

governance ensures effective property rights and contract enforcement without 　

excessively restrictive and arbitrary regulatory structures, and the delivery 　

of an appropriate mix and quality of public services, with the inclusion of the 　

poor and women, and without corruption.Since good governance is vital to 　

poverty reduction and sustainable development, the major tasks of this program 　

is dealing with how a good government could come into being. 　

Many 　

developing countries have a fierce discussion on good governance. They think 　

governments facing significant challenges of political instability should 　

recognize the importance of establishing law, order, and stability as 　

critically important governance conditions for poverty reduction. For example, 　

democratization 《Ethiopia and Vietnam》, political will 《Malawi》, information on 　

government activities 《Rwanda and Zambia》, improving social services 　

《Mauritania》, reforming state-owned enterprises 《Vietnam》, and innovative ideas 　

about citizen monitoring 《Bolivia》. We think giving these problems with a good 　

enough governance agenda is necessary. Then several actions should be taken to 　

lead to a more realistic agenda for good enough governance, such as addressing 　

the link between the governance and poverty reduction more carefully, situating 　

good governance historically and developmentally, asking different questions 　

about change, assessing more carefully who needs to do what, and applying 　

priorities on a country-by-country basis. 《Grindle 13》