2. poverty and natural resources
introduction
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Environmental degradation is a
major cause of poverty among rural
communities around the world.
Colonialization launched a process of
natural resource exploitation by
northern-based corporations in
southern countries, and catalyzed the
continuing intervention by
industrialized governments in the
political systems of resource-rich
countries.
Corrupt, repressive regimes in
many countries also benefit from
these neocolonial arrangements – at
the expense of their citizens and
local environments. This exploitation
of people and natural resources is
fueled by overconsumption by people
in wealthy industrialized countries
and the southern elite.
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As political leaders dither about how
(and in some cases, whether) to address the
poverty crisis, global inequities are
steadily increasing. Many studies,
including a 2004 International Labor
Organization report, show that the income
gap between the richest and poorest
countries is widening. Today, on our planet
of 6 billion people, one billion enjoy 80
percent of total global wealth and another
billion struggle to get by on US$1 per
day.
It has long been popular among
development ‘experts' to claim that the
poor are largely responsible for destroying
their environments as they sink deeper into
poverty. This belief persists despite
centuries of community experience which
have shown that indigenous peoples and
local communities are perfectly capable of
living in harmony with nature. The
livelihoods of many of the world's poorest
people depend directly on unspoiled natural
resources, from which they obtain food,
housing, energy, water, medicine and
income. When their traditional natural
resource management practices are hampered,
whether through environmental devastation,
overexploitation, privatization, or lack of
access, they may be forced to make their
livings in less sustainable ways in order
to support themselves and their
families.
The main culprits in the destruction of
natural resources and livelihoods are
transnational corporations, backed by their
governmental allies and enabled by trade
agreements and international financial
institutions. These actors promote
inappropriate policies and technologies –
including large-scale dams, intensive
agriculture, logging for export, commercial
fishing , and oil, mining and gas
operations – that put enormous pressure on
the environment and natural resources.
Grossly unsustainable consumption patterns
by higher-income people contribute to this
downward spiral: more natural resources are
expropriated, increasing poverty among the
local people who depend on them.
Furthermore, degraded environments are less
productive, more prone to environmental
hazards including floods, famine and
desertification, and less able to support
the people that depend upon them.
