THE NEXUS

BETWEEN
ENVIRONMENT
AND
POVERTY
POVERTY & ENVIRONMENTAL
DEGRADATION, A Vicious Circle?
• Environmental Degradation and Poverty are seen as two of the biggest
challenges for developing country like India. It is necessary that people
realise that two of the biggest challenges are actually inter connected.
• Internationally, there is a known correlation between poverty and
environmental danger. Brundtland Report 1990 - poverty as a major
cause and effect of global environmental problems.
• Because of lack of money, education, and concern, poor families
disregard the environment to uphold a “survival mentality” • Poor
countries do not see the environment as priority because of all the other
problems happening within the society, so nothing is done to conserve
IMPACT OF POVERTY ON
ENVIRONMENTAL DEGEGRADATION
• LAND POLLUTION :In Rural India one of the main issues is landlessness. This is because of the land scarcity that
we face due to an increased population growth but not enough resource of land being available.
• Deforestation: The poor have known to be motivated to carry out illegal cutting or felling of trees which has led to greater
amounts of land erosion, global warming and leading to floods.
• Bush Burning & Hunting: The people falling below the poverty line, are found to be more directly dependant on nature
resources from their immediately surrounding environment. Hunting of wild animals has an adverse impact on our
environment because it damages or adversely impacts the cycle or web of life to a very extremely negative level, this is a very
environmental concern as a few species of animals and Plants are becoming extinct. Further, activities like bush burning lead
to Environmental Degradation due to Carbon Emission that happens during Bush burning.
• Desertification: Desertification is the degradation of land quality takes place when the productivity of the land comes down
due to various aspects like exposure of the land to soil erosion, overgrazing of land, etc. Though this can happen due to
natural cause but is aggravated by human activities like overgasing of land, overcultivation, slash & burn agriculture.
• Land Encroachments: Due to lack of Economic resources the poor tend to set up their homes by encroaching upon lands
which are usually located in areas very close to water bodies or close to dumping yards.
• Excavation & Quarrying Activities: In India it has been found that poverty has forced the poor on various occasions to
employee themselves in activities like Quarrying & excavation. These activities have been proven to be one of the many
reasons of Land Degradation by causing issues like the disturbance or possibly destruction of edaphic vegetation & micro-
organisms, enhanced disturbance to the edaphic layer, disturbing the fragile crust of Earth, leads to an enhance soil Pollution
& also leads to flooding.
• WATER POLLUTION:Water shortage is one of the major threats faced by the globe at large. This water shortage is
born out smaller water issues or causes like, water contamination, Water Pollution, etc.
• WATER SHORTAGE: A UNEP report published in 1995 stated that about ninety five percentage of water in a
developing nation was used for the purposed of the rural & urban agriculture sector. Due to issues like less
rainfall, the poor who were unable to buy water would resort to practices like disproportionate pumping of the
ground water for agricultural watering, improper delegation of rights over water, use of electric pumps, led to an
disproportionate pumping of groundwater, way in excess of the regeneration of the same thereby negatively
affecting the level of groundwater leading to a shortage in water.
• WATER POL & CONTAMINATION:
• The biggest water pollutant identified, particularly in the Asian Continent, was Human waste. In developing
countries, this has happened due to the high levels of migrations for jobs, as the sanitary systems present was not
adequate and this migration put a heavy burden on the already present waste disposal and sanitation facilities in
these cities. Therefore, the water Pol. problem that occurs mainly sources from the urban regions that have such
poor sanitation facilities.
• The third biggest water pollutant identified was the washing off of the fertilisers, pesticides, etc. The green
revolution brought about for full filling the need to produce more grains for a higher level of population and for
greater returns introduced the used of High Yeild Variety Seeds, which needed the greater use of herbicites,
pesticides, fertilisers, etc. The main aim being production of greater volume of food for lesser price so that every
body could afford it. But the use of these chemicals, has led a way for these chemicals to mix up in the water
bodies situated near such agriculture farms.
• AIR POLLUTION :In Rural India one of the main issues is landlessness. This is because of the land
scarcity that we face due to an increased population growth but not enough resource of land being available.
• Outdoor Air Pollution: One of the main requirements that was identified are a pre requisite for economic
growth was Energy. The most prominently used source of energy in under developed and developing countries
was coal (predominantly in India) and other such fossil fuels, and the major reason for its use was that it was
very cheap to acquire. These fossil fuels would be burnt to generate energy. Burning of fossil fuels like coal
would emit various gases like Carbon monoxide, Sulphuric di oxide, Carbon dioxide, smoke, various
particulates, etc. These gases have been found to reduce the air quality and also lead to depleting of ozone layer.
It was therefore identified that the use of coal and other cheap fossil fuels would lead to emission of S.P.M.
thereby increasing the levels of Air Pollution.
• IN DOOR AIR POL: In rural India, one of the biggest issues is the use of biomass in the form of fuel for the
purpose of cooking. The indoor air Pol. caused due to use of solid or biomass fuels is the third foremost hazard to
the disease burden of India. In India the most widely used biomass fuels include crop residues, Wood & other
cheap material like cow dung, etc. According to the last survey conducted in India, about 78.7% people in the
rural areas use these materials as fuel for the purpose of household cooking. Though most of the people in urban
India use Liquified Petroliam Gasoline, but about 18.78% of the urban population actually still uses biomass fuel
and about 99% out of them fall below the poverty line. Among others, the main reason for the use of these
biomass fuels primarily for the purpose of cooking is cheap availability, inaccessibility, poverty, poor education,
lack of the awareness of the consequence these have on the environment, etc.
• It has been identified by the Lancet Commission, 2017 that of the people that die due to Pol. about 92% belong
to middle and lower income groups. Further, the report also recognised that the greatest mortality rate occurring
due to Pol. or Env-Deg. actually occurred in the developing and under-developed nations. Further, the report
recognised that out of the worst affected by Env. Deg., the highest mortality occurred on children, i.e., they
became the most vulnerable to effects of Env-Deg. It stated that the very young and the very elderly are the most
vulnerable to environmental Pol. related disease and death. Env-Deg. related deaths are highest in children under
the age of five, but the majority of Pol.-related deaths occur in adults over the age of 60.
• WATER POLLUTION :Though a few causes of Pol. were discussed earlier, there are other sources as well that are
not related to poverty which incudes industrial dumping, poor sewage systems, etc. Though the impact caused by
chemical & organic discharges is widespread, the major impact is seen on the poor, due to the inefficient/
skewed/poor distribution of sanitation systems between or across the urban rural divide & with the urban
slums.Though a few causes of Pol. were discussed earlier, there are other sources as well that are not related to
poverty which incudes industrial dumping, poor sewage systems, etc. Though the impact caused by chemical &
organic discharges is widespread, the major impact is seen on the poor, due to the inefficient/ skewed/poor
distribution of sanitation systems between or across the urban rural divide & with the urban slums. Further, the
older parts of the cities which are more prone to immigration have bad or skewed sanitation and sewage systems.
In most situations the sewage system is so corroded that the it might result in the mixing up of drinking water
with the raw sewage, making it highly contaminated. In rural areas, this is accompanied by a lack of adequate
waste management. Disease-causing pathogenic compounds are dumped near water bodies, where they seep into
the ground and end up in the water supply. Furthermore, the poor are more likely to live in low-lying urban areas,
which are less expensive but vulnerable to flooding, water contamination, and diseases. Therefore, poor
• LAND DEGRADATION: Since people at the bottom of the income distribution in rural areas depend primarily on land-related
activities for their livelihoods, Land Degradation can have an impact on their ability to generate income. It is evident from
reports that almost 61% of the moderately poor and about 76% of the poor people are dependent on agriculture as their
primary sources of income.
• Cropland loss due to degradation has an effect on the poor person's health and nutrition, as well as their production. This
effect can occur directly through lower yields per unit of labour or land as a result of poor soil quality, or indirectly through
labor's physical capacity to produce as a result of malnutrition and poor health.
• Further, large-scale irrigation infrastructure projects (canals, dams, barrages, etc) in the Indus River ecosystem have steadily
damaged flood plains and wetlands, which was major source of income for the poor sections of the society.
• Further, Evidence suggests that the poorest people live in the most unfavourable lands, which are marked by higher rates of
land loss and a low proportion of land improvements. According to reports, the top 20% of sub national regions, which have
the highest proportion of degraded land, also have the highest average rate of severe rural poverty.
• Further, Untreated and improperly disposed waste is loosely coated with soil and absorbs moisture, contaminating
underground water that the poor use for drinking, cooking, and washing, and this has a direct negative impact on their health.
• AIR POLLUTION: Every year, more than 8.8 million people die unexpectedly due to air Pol. around the world. The citizens
who are most impacted by air Pol., however, are those who live in low-income countries. In reality, people in Sub-Saharan
Africa are 23 times more likely than people in New Zealand and Australia to die from Air Pollution.
• Low-income communities emerge and squatter around industrial areas and power plants, where air Pol. is usually high and a
serious problem. The poor often work long hours in dangerous or unsafe industries; women and children are particularly
vulnerable, as they are exposed to dust and chemicals in sweatshops and household industries that produce textiles, carpets,
and leather goods. In major cities, traffic congestion is high and the resulting vehicular Pol. are becoming an increasingly
serious issue. Poor communities are the most vulnerable to vehicle emissions and other toxic and harmful fumes because they
appear to live near major highways.
• NATURAL DISASTERS: The impact of natural disasters on human life loss is directly proportional to poverty levels. The poor
make up the vast majority of those who are harmed by earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, and crop failures. Catastrophes that result
from Env-Deg. have a significant effect on people's quality of life by destroying food crops and livestock, shelter and other facets
of the built environment, and forcing households and communities to relocate, but the most devastating impact is the direct loss of
life and immediate poverty that often follow such incidents.
• The floods in China during 1998 can be seen as the biggest example here. According to government figures, 223 million people
were affected, accounting for about one fifth of China's population. Three Thousand & four people died and fifteen million were
displaced to become homeless. A total of 15 million farmers had their crops destroyed. The floods wreaked havoc on vital
infrastructure structures as well as manufacturing facilities.
• Further, The most destructive tsunami in recent history hit Southeast Asia, triggered by an earthquake with Nine magnitude in the
Indian Ocean, killing over 2.5 Lakh people in just one day. It impacted over Eighteen nations, including Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and
India, displacing over 17 Lakh people. Poor residents of villager who lived in the most susceptible or vulnerable areas along the
coasts in Indonesia of North Sumatra & Aceh made up the most common of those killed by the tsunami. Coastal agriculture and
fisheries have suffered significant setbacks. These natural disasters are an example of how the poor are more vulnerable to these
natural disasters.
• Most of the loss that occurs during natural disaster was not covered by any insurance. Natural disasters have the greatest human
effect on the poorest people, which live in more vulnerable or fragile environments and have little savings and insurance to help
them recover their lives. Therefore, Natural disaster mitigation programmes at the national and regional levels should therefore also
be closely related to poverty alleviation and economic and social development initiatives.