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: abauer@adb.org

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)

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

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

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”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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)

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

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

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: http://www.adb.org/poverty/environmental-sustainability.asp ADB’s Environmental Website: http://www.adb.org/Environment/default.asp Tracking MDG 7: A Future within Reach 2008 (ADB-ESCAP-UNDP partnership for the MDGs in Asia and Pacific): http://www.adb.org/Documents/Reports/MDG-Future-Reach-2008/default.asp Millennium Project, Ecosystem Development … Poverty mapping, poverty and environmental impact assessment tools