Financial Crises, Poverty and Environmental Sustainability: Challenges in the Context of the SDGs and Covid-19 Recovery

Description

This volume advances the state-of-the-art in the study of the interplay among financial crises, poverty dynamics and environmental sustainability. It offers timely and unique contributions to the immediate global challenge of sustainable development. Developing a new evidence-base, the volume offers concrete recommendations for policy action needed in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in relation to environment and poverty during the current conditions of financial distress. The approach taken is inductive and evidence-driven. Most analysis is based on in-depth case studies that aim to offer a detailed and dynamic picture on how poverty and environmental sustainability interact in specific social contexts and financial crises. In this way the volume aims to generate a wealth of new and concrete evidence that offer a solid foundation to understand the multiple channels through which social and environmental factors interact, and the ways in which this interaction can and should be managed in order to achieve the needed global transition to sustainability. Broader dynamics that are covered and analysed include the historical legacies of structural adjustment and colonialism; the current debt wave experienced in developing countries; the role of inequality; the significant impact that climate change has on livelihoods and on meeting the SDGs; the new challenge presented by the Covid-19 pandemic for the SDGs; the challenge of sustainable funding for SDGs; and the need for a new eco-social contract. Case-studies examined include Cambodia, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Zambia, and subregions such as the Caribbean, sub-Saharan Africa and Lower Mekong Countries. The volume is part of a joint initiative by the ‘Sussex Sustainability Research Programme (SSRP)’ of the University of Sussex, the ‘UNDP-UNEP Poverty-Environment Action for Sustainable Development Goals’ and the ‘United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD)’. The overall aim is to advance a new research programme and foster a better understanding of the multiple, complex and often opposing ways through which the punctuated economic slowdown of financial crises, poverty dynamics and environmental sustainability interact. It also makes novel recommendations into how poverty reduction and environment can work in synergy rather than being antagonistic, especially during financial distress, leading into recommendations directly geared towards achieving the SDGs and beyond. Foreword Foreword Foreword Acknowledgements Contents About the Editors Contributors 1: The Crises-Poverty-Sustainability Nexus in the Context of the Sustainable Development Goals and Covid-19 1 Green Aspects of Covid-19 Support and Recovery Strategies: Building Back Better? 2 Rethinking our Approach: From ‘Net Zero’ to ‘Do no Harm’ 3 From ‘Structural Adjustment’ to ‘Sustainability Adjustment’: Towards a New Eco-Social Contract 4 This Volume References 2: Finance for the Common Good: Re-Thinking the Relationship between Finance, Poverty and Sustainability 1 Introduction: Finance and its Limits 2 Towards an Alternative 3 Conclusions References 3: Financial Crises, Environment and Transition 1 Introduction 2 Financial Crises and Impacts on the Environment 2.1 The Debate on the Environmental Kuznets Curve 2.2 Studies on Recent Major Financial Crises 2.3 The Dynamic Relationship between Financial Crises and Environment 2.4 From Financial Crises to the Great Stagnation 3 Financial Crises & Great Stagnation: Empirical Evidence on Air Quality, Biodiversity, and Forests 3.1 Atmospheric Emissions 3.1.1 Financial Crises during the Period 1970–2015 3.1.2 The Great Stagnation 3.2 Forests and Deforestation 3.2.1 Financial Crises during the Period 1980–2015 3.2.2 The Great Stagnation 3.3 Biodiversity 3.3.1 Financial Crises during the Period 1980–2015 3.3.2 The Great Stagnation 3.4 Summary of Findings 3.4.1 Financial Crises 3.4.2 Great Stagnation 4 Conclusion References 4: From Crisis to Crisis: Conundrums of Caribbean Existence in the Global Political Economy 1 Introduction 2 Defining Caribbean States, Territories and SIDS 3 The SDGs and the Caribbean 4 (Post-)Colonial Context and Caribbean Integration in the Global Political Economy 5 Caribbean Tourism and the SDGs 6 Rent Seeking: Offshore, Citizen Investor Programmes and the SDGs 7 Conclusion References 5: Sustainable Water Resource Development in the Lower Mekong Basin: Synergies and Trade-Offs across Borders and Sectors 1 Introduction 2 Challenges to Water Security in the Mekong River Basin 3 Scenarios Formulation for Impact Assessment 3.1 The Scenarios Formulation: The First Basin Impact Assessment 3.2 Scenarios Formulation: The Second Basin Impact Assessment 3.2.1 Early Development Scenario (2007)—M1 Scenario 3.2.2 Definite Future Scenario (2020)—M2 Scenario 3.2.3 Planned Development Scenario (2040)—M3 Scenario 3.2.4 Sustainability Index 3.2.5 Cross-Sector Impacts 3.2.6 Transboundary Impacts 4 Key Results in Water Resources Development Scenarios in LMB 4.1 Results of the First Basin Impact Assessment 4.1.1 Definite Scenario 4.1.2 LMB 20-Year Plan Scenario without Mainstream Dams 4.1.3 LMB 20-Year Plan Scenario without Lower Mainstream Dams 4.1.4 LMB 20 Year Plan Scenario with all Mainstream Dams 4.1.5 LMB 20-Year Plan Scenario without Cambodian Mainstream Dams 4.1.6 LMB 20-Year Plan Scenario without Thai Mainstream Dams 4.1.7 Mekong Delta Flood Management Scenario 4.2 Results of the 2st Basin Impact Assessment 4.2.1 SDG-Based Sustainability Index 4.2.2 Benefits and Impacts 5 Managing Sustainability: Cooperation for Water Management in the Mekong Basin 5.1 Facilitation of Multi-Stakeholder Water Diplomacy 6 Conclusions and Policy Implications References 6: Government Borrowing, Infrastructure and Human Development in Africa: A Panel Threshold Approach 1 Introduction 2 Literature Review 3 Methodology 3.1 Empirical Model 3.2 Data Source 4 Results 4.1 Summary Statistics 4.2 Threshold Effect Test and Estimation Results 5 Conclusion References 7: Lives, Livelihoods and Environment: The Challenge of Sustainable Development Goals in India 1 Introduction—How India Has Addressed the SDGs So Far 2 Jal, Jangal, Jameen, Janvar, Jalvayu—The Basis of Lives and Livelihoods 2.1 Jal—Water 2.2 Jangal—Forest 2.3 Jameen—Land 2.4 Livelihoods and Jal, Jangal, Jameen 3 Investment Required Sources for SDGs 3.1 For Lives—Health and Education 3.2 For Livelihoods—Wage and Self-Employment 3.2.1 Agriculture 3.2.2 Non-Agricultural Wage Employment 3.3 For Environmental Regeneration 3.4 Overall Requirement of Financing and where Can it Come from 4 Yet, the Government Has to Continue to Be the Lead Financier 5 Additional Financing for SDGs on Lives, Livelihoods and the Environment 5.1 Individual Household Financing 5.2 Community Financing 5.3 Donor and CSR Financed NGO Efforts 5.4 Banks and Financial Institutions 5.4.1 National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) 5.4.2 Banks Loans for Livelihoods 5.4.3 Bank Financing for Environmental Regeneration 6 Conclusion References 8: The Nexus of Structural Adjustment, Economic Growth and Sustainability: The Case of Ethiopia 1 Introduction 2 Economic Reform and Financial Stabilization in Ethiopia 3 Structural Adjustment, Financial Sustainability and Economic Growth in Ethiopia 4 Triple Bottom Line (TBL) Evaluation of Ethiopia’s Structural Adjustment Policies 4.1 Economy 4.2 Equity 4.3 Environmental Sustainability 5 Conclusions References 9: Layered Crises Preventing Poverty Reduction: An Analysis of Zambian Poverty Dynamics and Policy Implications 1 Introduction 2 Overview of Poverty Dynamics in Zambia 3 Widespread Chronic Poverty: Interlocking Multiple Stressors 4 Narrowing Escape Routes 5 Growing Downward Pressures 2015–19, and Covid 19 in 2020 6 Conclusion and Policy Priorities References 10: Resilience of Small-Scale Fisheries to COVID-19: A Case Study from North Bali, Indonesia 1 Introduction 2 Scope and Approach 2.1 Study Location Fisheries in North Bali 2.2 Research Framework, Data Collection and Analysis 3 Results 3.1 Fisher Households 3.2 Medical Infrastructure 3.3 Preparedness 3.4 Social Adaptability 3.5 Communication 3.6 Historical Data 3.7 Household Income Diversification 3.8 Fisheries Supply and Demand 3.9 Fisher Income 3.10 Financial Habits 4 Discussion 4.1 Community Vulnerability 4.1.1 Health 4.1.2 Economic 4.1.3 Environment 4.2 Community Resilience 4.2.1 Health 4.2.2 Economic 4.2.3 Environment 5 Conclusion 5.1 Implications on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 5.2 Policy Considerations References 11: Challenges of Targeting Poor and Vulnerable Groups to Reduce Climate Change Vulnerability: The Case of a Water and Sanitation Project in Kampong Svay District, Cambodia 1 Introduction 2 Literature Review 3 Resilient Infrastructure and Beneficiary Selection Criteria 4 Methodology 5 Study Site 6 Results 6.1 Profile of Different Vulnerable Groups 6.2 Factors that Hinder the Project Beneficiaries 6.2.1 Lack of Family Labor 6.2.2 Climate Change (Extreme Heat) 6.2.3 Livelihood Strategy for Poor Households (Different Priorities) 6.2.4 Technical Support from the Government 7 Conclusion and Recommendations References 12: Why Recent Crises and SDG Implementation Demand a New Eco-Social Contract 1 Introduction: Threats to our Global Compact—How Multiple Crises Undermine the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and why we Need a New Eco-Social Contract 2 Stalled Progress: The Impact of Recent Crises on Poverty, Inequality and Climate Change 3 Claims for a New Social Contract: Actors and Contestations 4 Looking Back to Build Forward Better: Recognising the Diversity of Social Contracts, Challenges and Lessons Learned 5 The Way Forward: Pathways towards a New Eco-Social Contract to Achieve Sustainable Development for People and Planet References Index