Climate and environment

Ensuring the environment is managed in a way that helps to reduce poverty.

Environment

Ensuring environmental sustainability is one of the Millennium Development Goals to which DFID and the international community are committed. As well as being a goal in its own right, improving environmental sustainability also makes a vital contribution to the achievement of the other seven goals.

DFID has a long standing commitment to the environment and sustainable development. We have shown leadership on important global environmental concerns from the illegal trade in timber and ecosystem management, to the recognition of environmental and natural resource management as key dimensions of poverty reduction.

At the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development the UK, among others, made a strong and ultimately successful case for greater integration of the environment with development objectives. The Summit articulated more clearly than ever before that the poor are dependent on the environment for their livelihoods and are particularly vulnerable to environmental change, such as floods, droughts and other natural disasters.

The environment matters greatly to people living in poverty. It affects their livelihoods and health and can increase their vulnerability to external shocks.

Livelihoods - poor people tend to be most dependent upon the environment and the direct use of natural resources. They are therefore the most severely affected when the environment is degraded or their access to natural resources is limited or denied. The drying up of the Aral Sea in Central Asia due to poorly planned and executed irrigation systems has destroyed the local natural resource base and exacerbated poverty in the region.

Health - poor people suffer most when water, land, and the air are polluted. Environmental risk factors are a major source of health problems in developing countries. It is estimated that 30% of the burden of disease in sub-Saharan Africa is due to environmental causes, such as lack of sanitation and clean water, poor indoor air quality and unsafe working conditions.

Vulnerability - the poor are often exposed to environmental hazards and environment-related conflict and are least capable of coping when they occur. In 1992 Hurricane Andrew hit the USA and resulted in 32 deaths. In 1991 a cyclone of similar force hit Bangladesh and killed over 139,000 people.

Since the Millennium Declaration, global climatic change has emerged as one of the defining issues of our time and brought environment and development issues into much sharper focus. Recent global assessments such as the United Nations Global Environment Outlook (2007) and the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) all point to increasing environmental and natural resource degradation. The most recent assessments of climate change indicate that environmental change is likely to be overwhelming for most poor countries. Already a third of the world’s people live in countries which don’t have enough water, and by 2025 (on current trends) it will be two thirds.

The costs of inaction are likely to be high, both in terms of direct costs and forgone development opportunities. The gradual erosion of the natural resource base, upon which growth is predicated in most poor countries, combined with the degradation of critical ecosystem services (flood protection, soil generation, and nutrient supply), will significantly reduce options for future generations and increase vulnerability to climate change. By 2050, more than 200 million people could be rendered homeless by rising sea levels, floods and drought, while agricultural yields in some countries could be reduced by as much as 50 per cent.

Taking a longer term view of development

Addressing the environmental issues that matter most to the poor is critical to achieving sustained poverty reduction. Developing countries are already experiencing environmental degradation and exhaustion of environmental and natural resources (renewable and non renewable) that are vital to long-term development. Without a greater focus on sustainability these problems will increase as their economies grow.

What DFID is doing

DFID is focussing on:

Working both at country level and through partnerships internationally to support better environmental management and better governance of environmental resources such as water, forests, fisheries, biodiversity and land.
Integrating the principles of sustainable development across a broad range of DFID’s work, including governance and building effective states, conflict prevention, and promoting sustainable growth.
Supporting developing country partners to better understand the economics of natural resources management and to build sustainable growth strategies.
Strengthening our support on environmental management and sustainable development – with a particular focus on water management and forest management – building on lessons learned and new spaces created by climate change.
Supporting key environmental civil society organisations, such as the WWF (DFID has provided £12.47 million in funding over four years) and the International Institute for Environment and Development (£3.18 million over four years), amongst others.
Engaging with British Overseas NGOs for Development (BOND) Development and Environment Group, which presented at the recent UN ECOSOC meeting in July 2008.
Applying sound environmental screening procedures for all DFID programmes costing more than £1m.

Links

A man holding new saplings (South Africa)

A farmer holds varieties of new saplings, introduced to mitigate against environmental degradation (South Africa).

We can all help to prevent climate change by reducing harmful emissions - using less gas, oil and electricity.

Douglas Alexander Secretary of State

Fighting Poverty Index