Contacts: Sergio Jellinek 1-202-294-6232 Sjellinek@worldbank.org Tracey Osborne 1- 202-473-4033 tosborne@worldbank..org Yanina Budkin, 011 54 11-4316-9724 ybudkin@worldbank.org WASHINGTON/BUENOS AIRES, December 14, 2004 – The environment is an issue of interest not only to rich countries, but is also crucial for the nearly 3 billion people living on less than $2 a day in developing countries, offering the potential for significant improvements in quality of life through better health and improved livelihoods if the right steps are taken, according to the World Bank’s annual publication Environment Matters, released today. “Rich countries’ larger contribution to environmental damage means that they must shoulder great responsibility for fixing the problem. That means changing the way they produce and consume energy - reducing subsidies, ensuring appropriate pricing, and adequately taxing environmentally damaging products,” said James D. Wolfensohn, President, the World Bank in his editorial, Making Growth Green published in Environment Matters. According to the World Bank’s conservative projections, rich countries will grow on average 2 percent and developing countries by 3.3 percent annually reaching an economy of $135 trillion by 2050, and quadrupling today’s global GDP. However, how we grow matters. In order to realize the full impact of economic growth on poverty reduction, reducing inequality is essential. The prudent way forward must be based on promoting a development path that integrates economic growth with environmental responsibility and social equity. Good governance is a key entry point to improve the quality of growth, insists the publication. The new report from the World Bank’s Environment Department was released simultaneously at the 10th Session of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) Conference of Parties (COP) in Buenos Aires and Washington DC. The report has as its theme long-term sustainable growth and contains viewpoints from senior government officials from China, Mexico and India as well as from leaders from academia, NGOs, and the World Bank. It also provides a regional review of the Bank’s operational work and lending for the past year. According to Prodipto Ghosh, Secretary of Environment and Forests in India, the Government of India has successfully decoupled decline in environmental quality and increases in per capita income at a much earlier stage than other developing countries. This has been in part due to India’s pluralistic democracy, which is based on universal adult suffrage and includes strong, independent judicial institutions and a free press. According to Secretary Ghosh, the other part of the explanation is: “In India the laws relating to forests, mining, water resources, factories and even criminal laws, have ensured that – right from the start of the growth process – environmentally irresponsible actions could be prevented or penalized. These have been enhanced in the past three decades by specific laws for environmental conservation, prevention of air and water pollution and wildlife protection.” Environmental management implies taking action and facing extra costs, but costs of passivity and insufficient action are, without doubt, much higher “We know that environmental degradation represents an annual liability that ranges between 10 and 11 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). In monetary terms that means that environmental degradation costs Mexico at least $64 billion per year,” said Alberto Cárdenas Jiménez, Secretary of Environmental and Natural Resources, Mexico.  To prevent further degradation of its natural resources, the Government of Mexico supports programs that make both economic and environmental sense. Secretary Cárdenas notes that “saving water and energy, efficiently managing the disposal of wastes, and reducing air and water emissions are all measures that contribute to competitiveness – by reducing costs- and to sustainable development.”
With a fast growing economy, China faces a sustainability challenge. According to Xie Zhenhua, Minister, State Environmental Protection of Administration of the People’s Republic of China, “It is estimated that by 2020, China’s GDP will have quadrupled compared to that of 2000. If the traditional patterns of development were to continue, natural resources would not be able to sustain this growth, the environment would be unable to bear the heavy burden of pollution and waste, and as a result, the goal of building a more affluent society would not be achieved.” China is experiencing a rapid increase in energy demand and serious environmental pollution, and there is a growing awareness that renewable energy can play a central role in meeting energy demand, enhancing energy security, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and, as a result, contributing to sustainable development. The Government of China in its Renewable Energy Development Strategy is proposing to increase the share of renewables from the current level of less than 1 percent to around 12 percent of today’s output by 2020. Warren Evans, Director Environment Department, World Bank, urged the international community to live up to the commitments of the Rio Summit in 1992 and the Johannesburg Summit 10 years later. “Spending for the environment averaged about $2 billion per year over the last decade – far less than the international community said was needed. Industrialized countries pay about $2.50 per person for environmental protection in developing countries - less than the current price for one gallon of gasoline in most OECD countries,” he added. According to Environment Matters, in East Asia, the cost of environmental degradation ranges from 4 to 8 percent of GDP, with poor communities being the most vulnerable. Health effects from indoor and outdoor air pollution are significant in many cities including Bangkok, Beijing, Jakarta, Manila and Shanghai. In addition, there is competition for scarce water resources as urban areas expand. The publication also draws attention to the cost of environmental degradation in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region which is estimated at 5.4 percent of the regional GDP. The report notes that in Sub-Saharan Africa, economic and social costs of unsustainable management of natural resources are roughly estimated at 3 to 5 percent of the region’s GDP. In 2002, 2.9 million people in the region died as a result of environmental impacts on public health. In developing countries, concerns about water shortages and indoor and outdoor air pollution are a top priority in people’s agenda according to opinion poll results released by GlobeScan in this edition of Environment Matters (see graph). 
Seventy five percent of citizens in developing countries do not feel their environment laws go far enough. GlobeScan’s research suggests that there will be increasing calls for environmental action from people in developing countries, amplified by their acute awareness that environmental problems are affecting personal health. To read the full text of Environment Matters, please visit: Environment Matters 2004 - English
Environment Matters 2004 - Spanish For more information on sustainable development, please visit: www.worldbank.org/sustainabledevelopment |
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