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Poverty alleviation cannot ignore environmental concerns
Slovakia, 14 April 2008 – Measures to reduce poverty must encompass the sustainable land management practices needed to underpin long-term economic growth, says the April issue of Development and Transition, which is being released today at www.developmentandtransition.net. “The sharp increases in poverty and economic insecurity that accompanied the large declines in incomes and output during the 1990s reduced the public importance attached to environmental concerns,” says Ben Slay, director of UNDP’s Bratislava Regional Centre and executive editor of Development and Transition. “But these issues are at the heart of the broader development and transition challenges facing Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).” The drying of the Aral Sea is a poignant example of the perils of pursuing poverty reduction strategies without significant concern for the environment. The devastating effects on soil quality in the Aral Sea Basin have harmed the livelihoods and health of some 20 million people, according to Vladimir Mikhalev and Ajiniyaz Reimov. Annual losses of agricultural production from salinization alone are estimated at $2 billion. Tajikistan’s Lake Sarez, a little-known body of water held back by an unstable dam, is a ticking time bomb that could flood some 6 million people living downstream. While catastrophic scenarios about the future of Lake Sarez are easy to come by, measures to mitigate the threat it posses are less so, despite soil erosion rates around the natural dam at an alarming 30-40 metres a year. The issue also looks at rare plants and animals thriving in post-combat zones. In Cyprus, Nicolas Jarraud describes how Greek- and Turkish-Cypriot conservationists are working together to preserve the habitat of the mouflon (wild sheep), as well as document indigenous flora and fauna that can be found growing along the Green Line that demarcates the island. The role of civic activism in protecting the environment is explored further by JoAnn Carmin of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who reports the results of survey data taken from environmental NGOs in the new EU member states in 2007. Cristina Parau of the London School of Economics then shows how environmental NGOs used EU accession processes in Romania to oppose officially sanctioned development projects–successfully in the case of the Dracula Theme Park; less so in the case of the Romanian Motorways construction. The politics of energy production, pricing and transport affecting Russia, neighbouring CIS countries, and the EU are examined by Chloe Bruce of the University of Vienna, who argues that Gazprom (Russia’s national gas company) has achieved a number of political and economic goals during the past two years. Still, the ‘piping hot’ tensions in these relationships, which often elicit ‘great game’ analogies from pundits, seem unlikely to cool any time soon. On the other hand, as Ben Slay argues in a counter-point to Bruce, strategic tensions over gas production and transport are complemented by common commercial and ecological interests and interdependencies between Russia and Europe—commonalities that will most likely become stronger if climate change problems worsen. About the newsletter: Development and Transition (www.developmentandtransition.net) is a joint publication of the United Nations Development Programme and the London School of Economics. It aims to be a forum for policy-oriented discussions and debates about how the nature, evolution and challenges of development and transition intersect in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union and also Turkey. About UNDP: UNDP is the UN’s global network to help people meet their development needs and build a better life. We are on the ground in 166 countries, working as a trusted partner with governments, civil society and the private sector to help them build their own solutions to global and national development challenges. Further information can be found at www.undp.org. About LSE: The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a world-class centre for its concentration of teaching and research across the full range of the social, political, and economic sciences. Founded in 1895 by Beatrice and Sidney Webb, LSE has an outstanding reputation for academic excellence. From its foundation LSE has aimed to be a laboratory of the social sciences, a place where ideas are developed, analysed, evaluated and disseminated around the globe. For more information or interview requests, please contact Peter Serenyi, managing editor of Development and Transition at peter.serenyi@undp.org or For more information about Development and Transition newsletter please visit http://developmentandtransition.net/.
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