1. Presentation at the 13th Poverty and Environment Partnership Meeting
The Environments of the Poor – New Perspectives on Development Programs
Presentation at the 13th Poverty and Environment Partnership Meeting
9-11 June 2008, Manila
For further inquiries:
Dr. Armin Bauer, Senior Economist
Regional and Sustainable Development Department,
Asian Development Bank:

2. The Environments of Poverty – An Overview
What is “environmental poverty” ?
Why geographical approach
Present estimates on poverty incidences 2005 and 2020 and its location in “environmental “ areas
Is climate change hijacking the poverty agenda ?
Operational and strategic consequences for closer alignment between the environment and poverty reduction, including MDGs (7 and 8–funds)

3. Poverty is Changing in Asia and Pacific
Shift:
From extreme poverty ($1: 20% ->11%) to vulnerability ($2: 57% -> 40%)
extreme poverty remains mainly rural
More urban vulnerable poor
From everywhere to specific geographical areas;
From income and social poverty to environmental and exclusion
climate change and globalization aggravate poverty

4. Poverty and the Environment – From which perspective do we look?
Nature
People / Poor People
Infrastructure and Institutions
They affect differently on socio-economic and poverty situation in an area
The environments of the poor

5. Poverty and the Environment Evolvement of Discussions
1960s/70s: growth
1970s: clean up
1990s: Natural resources
2000: Environment AND Poverty: impact on income (biodiversity) and health (water and sanitation)
Paradigm shift: climate change, persisting poverty in geographical location, urbanization, migration and environmental refugees  “Environments of Poverty”

6. Poverty and the Environment, Environmental Poverty and the Environments of the Poor – Forget about Cause and Effect?

7. A Geographical Approach to Poverty Reduction
Income poverty, social poverty, environmental poverty, the disaster-prone poor
Pro-poor growth potential area (the non-environmental poor)
The environments of the rural poor
The dry-land poor
The upland poor
The coastal poor
The flood affected wetland poor
The environments of the urban poor
– The slum poor
Affecting
the income of the rural poor
Affecting poor people’s health in urban areas

8. Where do the poor live – now… and in 2020: The Spatial Distribution of Poverty
Environmental poverty as percent of total poverty is increasing from 53% (2005) to 70% (2020) of the extreme poor ($1).
Slum poverty, dryland poverty and coastal poverty show largest increase
Need for location specific strategies beyond national averages
Interactive map

9. Where do the poor live – now… and in 2020: The Spatial Distribution of Poverty

10. Policy Implications (1) Operational Consequences - Rural
Addressing dryland poverty (24% of $1 poor and 41% of $2 poor in 2005; 27%/29% in 2020) is most important;
alternative income opportunities
New produce and agricultural research
Tourism (coastal poverty)
Area development requires infrastructure investments
Solutions to environmental poverty are often beyond environmental investments:
Small rural town development in and migration to PPG areas
Crop and risk insurance
Social protection for those remaining in rural environmental poverty areas: the elderly, the women, the children
Why infrastructure investment will become even more important

11. Policy Implications (2) - Operational Consequences - Urban
With urbanization and continued unbalanced growth slum poverty is increasing
The incidence of slum poverty will increase from 12% of all very poor ($1) in 2005 to 25% in 2020
Slum poverty is less related to water and sanitation and more to
Congestion (traffic in slums, urban planning),
Housing / shelter, and
weakening social fabric

12. Aggravators of Environmental Poverty: Climate Change, Disasters, and Globalization
Asia is the most disaster prone region in the world (natural, technological, conflict); disasters affect the poor most
Globalization: food and energy prices affect the poor and create instabilities
Environmental poverty dimensions of fragile states
Climate change affects poorer countries and poorer regions more, and poor in the poorer countries most
Global warming increases dryland and coastal poverty,
Melting glaciers deepen flood related ands upland poverty,
Increasing incidences of disasters result in more poverty and environmental refugees

13. The need to make the climate change debate more poverty sensitive
Does the climate change debate hijack the poverty agenda?
strategic sector choice, e.g. the predominance of energy vs. water and soil
Strategic location choice, e.g. the predominance of clean air and urban traffic, but not for the poor
Strategic financing choice: environment (infrastructure and growth / regional cooperation) poverty (governance, gender, social development)
Environment is more than climate change, and climate change is more than energy efficiency
Do not protect only the earth, also ensure decent human development and inclusive growth – the priority of poverty reduction
Energy of the poor is not electricity but cooking and heating
Transportation of the poor is local not long-distance mass transport
A fresh look on agriculture and natural resources development: the need to focus more on soil and water

14. Policy Implications - Strategic Alignment
Funding: The renewed focus on the environment shall not be on the costs of poverty reduction
Targeting: Moving away from a household/people targeting approach to a geographical approach on poverty can bring the environmental and poverty agenda together
Prioritize (a) water and soil, and (b) coastal and upland area development, and link with income opportunities for the poor
Household energy, productive use of energy
Poor people’s transport means and air pollution
Shelter and slum development
Promote social protection for those left behind
Impact contribution: Geographical targeting and project classification (TI-G)
Monitoring from the poor’s perspective: poverty impact assessment and environmental effects chains

15. Policy Implications (2) Sustainability MDG needs a new spin
MDG 7 – current targets: water, biodiversity, electricity, slum, planning
Principle of sustainable development in poverty strategies
Reduce biodiversity loss significantly by 2010
Halve by 2015 proportion of people without access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation
Have achieved a significant improvement by 2020 in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers
The need for better linking poverty and environmental indicators and targets
unlike most of the other MDG targets, MDG 7 goal is neither quantitative nor time-bound; there is need to develop proper indicators and quantifiable targets for MDG 7
climate change related environmental poverty issues in MDG 7 shall also be included
PEP statement on this to be sent to UNDP;
bring the environmental poverty agenda into the mid term MDG meeting (Oct 08 in New York)

16. Policy Implications (3) Suggestions for a new MDG 7+
Revert the increase in rural environmental poverty among the total poor by addressing dryland, upland, coastal, and flood affected wetland poverty
Provide – by 2020 – sustainable alternative employment and income opportunities for 60% of the poor and vulnerable poor in dryland areas
Halve the income dependency of the upland poor on forestry and biodiversity by 2020
Ensure that by 2020 the coastal poor households derive at least 50% of their income from income sources outside of fishery
Ensure better flood protection by increasing investments by 30%
Revert the trend of increasing slum poverty as percent of total urban poor
Address urban poor’s traffic needs
reduce air pollution in slums
Achieve proper housing and shelter fort at least 60% of the slum poor in 2020
Halve by 2015 proportion of urban and rural people without access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation
Climate change
Double by 2020 access of the poor to environmental friendly cooking energy
Ensure that by 2020 at least 20% of the rural poor and vulnerable are covered under formal social protection schemes including health and environmental risk insurances
Increase by 2020 funding for climate change related programs that directly address poverty reduction to at least 30% of total environment related budgets
For further discussion

17. Policy Implications (4) Environmental Poverty in MDG 8+
Introduce a project classification system than can report on development contribution to the environment, climate change and direct poverty reduction in geographical areas
Increase funding for direct poverty and environment relevant area programs from to 30% of total development finance
Ensure that by 2020 all investments at project and program level are backed by ex-ante impact assessments showing the linkages and impact chains between poverty and the environment using a geographical approach on the environments of the poor
Increase share of direct poverty relevant funding under climate change programs from 20% to 40% by 2015, and ensure that all programs explain the direct impact on poverty direction
For further discussion

18. References
Joint study of the ADB’s Poverty Unit and the Environmental Division: The Environments of Poverty. A Geographical Approach to Poverty Reduction in Asia and the Pacific
Environment at ADB’s Poverty Website:
ADB’s Environmental Website:
Tracking MDG 7: A Future within Reach 2008 (ADB-ESCAP-UNDP partnership for the MDGs in Asia and Pacific):
Millennium Project, Ecosystem Development …
Poverty mapping, poverty and environmental impact assessment tools