Poverty, Environmental Degradation, and Human Rights: Exploring the Nexus

Poverty, Environmental Degradation, and Human Rights: Exploring the Nexus

Josh Gellers, PhDPPD132: Sustainability IIUniversity of California, IrvineApril 13, 2016

PPD132: Sustainability II 2

Outline

Define poverty

Interrogate the connections

Examine evidence of the nexus

Evaluate potential solutions

Design a field experiment


What is poverty?

Lack of income Lack of assets

• Natural resource assets

• Human resource assets

• On-farm and financial assets

• Of-farm physical and financial assets

Lack of entitlements


Poverty Environmental Degradation

Human Rights?

Exploring the Nexus


Environmental Kuznets Curve


Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs


• “The failures that we need to correct arise both from poverty and from the short-sighted way in which we have often pursued prosperity. Many parts of the world are caught in a vicious downwards spiral: Poor people are forced to overuse environmental resources to survive from day to day, and their impoverishment of their environment further impoverishes them, making their survival ever more difficult and uncertain.”

Our Common Future (1987)


So poverty causes environmental

degradation, right?


Is it really that simple?

• EKC is spatially myopic• Studies tend to focus on the

state, not households• Difficult to generalize across

different kinds of environmental changes

• Fails to explain future-oriented behavior

No!


Hypotheses

H1: Exogenous poverty Environmental degradation

H2: Power, wealth, and greed Environmental degradation

H3: Institutional failure Environmental degradation

H4: Market failure Environmental degradation

H5: Environmental degradation Poverty

H6: Endogenous poverty Environmental degradation


What does the evidence say?

Power, wealth, and greed Environmental degradation Poverty

Institutional/market failures + Lack of information Environmental degradation Poverty

Poverty Environmental degradation

• BUT only 10% chose these activities freely; 90% were forced into unsustainable practices


Solutions?

Property RightsEnvironmental Rights


Property Rights

• Up to 2.5 billion people depend on land and natural resources that are held, used, or managed collectively

• Only 1/5 of these lands are formally recognized as owned by them

• This leaves 1/3 of the world’s population vulnerable

How do property

rights relate to global

poverty?


Property Rights

Provide shelter, dignity, and a means for accumulation

In particular, land:

• Can be used as collateral for credit or exchanged for capital

• Provides a buffer to smooth consumption in times of shocks

• Confers social standing, increases bargaining power


Property Rights

So to reduce poverty, we should pass laws that give land to individual poor people, right?

If only it were that easy!

• Understand the context (i.e. legal pluralism)• Pay attention to the bundle of rights, including use,

management, exclusion, and alienation• Might negatively impact those with joint or secondary

rights (i.e. women)


Procedural Environmental Rights

Information

Participation

Access to Justice


Procedural Environmental Rights


Do PERs work?

• Courts in Ecuador, India, Peru, South Africa, South Korea, and Slovenia have upheld PERs

• A global quantitative study shows that that PERs to information are associated with greater access to improved water and sanitation sources

Limited evidence, but so far promising:


Limits of Rights-Based Approaches

Litigation can be slow and expensive

Property rights suggest a ‘win-win’ situation, but poverty still driven by market forces

Procedural environmental rights require enforcement and resources

Might conflict with cultural practices


Exercise: Design a field experiment• 1) Partner up with someone nearby (friend or enemy)• 2) Decide whether you’ll test property rights or PERs• 3) Design a specific research question• 4) Generate a hypothesis based on this lecture• 5) Develop an intervention that tests your hypothesis• 6) Identify the country, scale, and number of subjects• 7) Describe any ethical concerns that might arise• 8) Write it all up and be prepared to share!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtLnBz6lbRQ


What can *I* do?

Mobilize others to support campaigns and programs • #LandRightsNow, #EnvironmentalRights

Donate to organizations• Landesa, EarthRights International

Start or join a student group• Global Environmental Brigades at UCI, Students for Sustainability

Volunteer your time with the less fortunate

Thank you!Contact info:@JoshGellers

[email protected]