The poor damage the environment in their struggle to survive far less than the demands of consumers in the wealthy developed economies, maintains Nick Chisholm
The World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg is addressing the growing concerns about the state of the world's environment. Indicators of growing pressure on the Earth include global warming, which contributes to unpredictable and more extreme weather conditions, rapid rates of deforestation, massive decline in fish stocks and droughts, contributing to the famine afflicting much of southern Africa.
The Taoiseach will be among the world leaders in Johannesburg attending the concluding stages of the summit at the weekend, but will their presence make much difference?
Away from all the summitry, the daily struggle of ordinary poor people to sustain themselves continues. One of the apparent breakthroughs in thinking at the original Earth summit in Rio 10 years ago was the recognition of the link between poverty and environmental degradation.
The environment wasn't just a middle-class concern of people in developed countries but was fundamental to the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of poor people living in rural areas in developing countries. Poor people were said to be forced to degrade their environment to survive. Therefore, attacking poverty was also the key to reversing environmental degradation.
But is it the poor who are responsible for degrading the environment? Generally not. Ethiopia is a good test case of this link, because it's well known for high rates of poverty, recurrent famines and environmental degradation. Yet my research there suggests that poor people are, in general, well aware of the importance of the environment for their livelihoods, and they take many active measures both to protect environmental resources and regenerate those resources.
I have carried out research in four communities in Tigray, in northern Ethiopia, where the Irish Government's development co-operation programme is working with local communities and local government to support sustainable development.
In almost all of these areas, communities have established rules and local organisations to regulate the use of natural resources, such as woodlands, grazing areas for livestock, and valuable irrigation systems in an area which is generally drought-prone. In addition, with the support of the local government and donors, including Ireland Aid, communities have regenerated watersheds, enriched common grazing lands and developed a range of income-generating activities which help to alleviate poverty and food shortages. Why, then, does environmental degradation occur? There is some degradation due to poverty and population pressure on resources - for example, poor people without land sometimes cut down trees to sell as firewood. But the most serious degradation has taken place as a result of external factors which reduce the effectiveness of local management systems.
The most significant "shock" to the system has been uncertainty over the land tenure system, particularly affecting tenure over trees on hillslopes, which was a consequence of the 1975 land reform. Once it wasn't clear who had responsibility for trees, people indulged in a "free for all" to get some benefit before others could do so.
This lack of clarity over tenure lasted for many years in Tigray, but was accompanied by civil war - and the war was another cause of degradation, as troops cut down trees to meet their needs. More recently, in one of the communities investigated, the government decided to take over the management of one of the few remaining forest areas, which had for decades been effectively guarded by local communities. The result was an increase in outsiders coming into the area to cut trees, now immune from the sanctions which local communities had applied.
Although we shouldn't romanticise local management systems, we should be aware that their existence shows that local communities do try to manage environmental resources in a sustainable way. They are well aware of the problem, and partnership with these communities is generally the best way to support them in reversing degradation and ensuring sustainable livelihoods.
The work that Ireland Aid is doing in the area is a good example of that type of partnership so it would be of great concern if there was a reversal in the trend of increasing Ireland's foreign aid budget.
So who does cause environmental degradation? Without a doubt, most of the threats to the global environment are the result of excessive pressure on resources caused by the demands of developed economies. In that respect pinning the "blame" for environmental degradation on the poor is a cop-out. It is to be hoped that the summit in Johannesburg will remind the developed world of its responsibilities in addressing over-consumption and the unsustainable nature of the current global economy.
The developed world needs to get serious about adjusting to a sustainable economy, meaning more focus at home on reducing CO2 emissions, promoting recycling and reduction at source, expanding renewable energy options, expanding public transport and promoting sustainable agriculture.
In relation to developing countries we should be supporting fair and sustainable trade that doesn't damage the environment.
We need to expand partnerships with governments and communities in developing countries who clearly want to protect and enhance the natural resource base, but who may be lacking the basic financial or other resources which would enable them to do so.
Nick Chisholm lectures in the department of food, business and development at University College Cork and is the Irish representative on an OECD working group on development co-operation and environment