Protecting our planet to benefit the poor

Many environmental challenges can only be tackled through international cooperation. Climate change, access to sustainable sources of energy, the need to safeguard rivers, lakes and coasts from various forms of pollution are all challenges that call for effective multilateral approaches.

In a village in Thailand, families are benefiting from a UNCDF solar power pumping station. The money it generates is used to send their children to school, pay for food and make essential repairs to their houses.

UNDP supports countries' efforts to protect the environment and manage their resources efficiently, and promotes cooperation among countries in tackling common environmental challenges. One of UNDP's core objectives is to help countries design environment and energy policies that address the needs of the poor. Inadequate and unequal management of natural resources is a major impediment to the transformation of communities in the developing world. When natural resources are depleted, when pollution threatens the well-being of a country's population, the most vulnerable tend to be among the hardest hit. Poor households often depend on access to a diversity of natural resources for their livelihoods; they are often the most adversely affected by exposure to unsafe water, indoor air pollution, toxic chemicals and other health hazards.

Among natural resources, water plays a pivotal role for human development. Today, over 1 billion people lack access to clean water and 2.4 billion do not have basic sanitation. The use and abuse of increasingly precious water resources have intensified dramatically over the past decades, reaching a point where water shortages, water quality degradation and aquatic ecosystem destruction are threatening prospects for human development and political stability. As water resources become scarce, new forms of tension can arise between countries sharing the same rivers and lakes. In order to transform the risks of conflict into opportunities for cooperation, UNDP established the Transboundary River Basin Initiative, a platform for dialogue and consensus building for countries that share the same water resources. Through this initiative, we support 36 countries in their efforts to reach agreements on the management of shared waters, in partnership with regional and national organizations, including the Mekong River Commission, the Nile Basin Initiative and the Niger Basin Authority. Building on this success, UNDP is now expanding its shared waters initiative to the Central Asian Region, where, in collaboration with other UN agencies, it is leading a process that would enable governments to work together on the management of the region's shared waters.

Sound and equitable management of natural resources is critical to sustained poverty reduction and to the achievement of the MDGs. One of the most efficient ways of ensuring that the poor's environmental concerns are not ignored is to incorporate these concerns in national policies. Yet, in most countries, integrating 'pro-poor' perspectives on the environment into national development strategies remains a major challenge. UNDP, in partnership with UNEP, is supporting environment-based policies in Cambodia, Kenya, Nicaragua, Rwanda, Tanzania and Viet Nam. Through this Poverty and Environment Initiative, we helped the Tanzanian government integrate environment into the poverty reduction strategy process. The programme supported dialogue among policy-makers, NGOs and community groups on poverty-environment linkages and the use of environment indicators in local and national level planning. As a result, Tanzania's new poverty reduction strategy includes actions on using natural resources management to alleviate poverty, empower women and improve government accountability.

Access to affordable sources of energy is key to poverty alleviation. In Kenya, the high cost of energy translates into increased production costs, affecting the competitiveness of Kenyan goods in local and international markets. To help tackle this problem, UNDP has been assisting small- and medium-sized enterprises to reduce production costs through increased energy efficiency. In particular, UNDP trained managers and engineers on the use of energy-efficient manufacturing techniques. As a result, many local companies were able to make significant savings on fuel costs. This initiative also helps increase access to financing for profitable projects and presents significant potential for other countries in Eastern Africa.

In India, UNDP is supporting government efforts to empower poor and disadvantaged communities and strengthen their livelihoods by improving the management of natural resources. In collaboration with the Indian Government and the state governments of Jharkhand, Orissa and Rajasthan, the project aims at encouraging effective participation of the poor—especially women—in the management and development of natural resources. Working with around 5,000 women's groups and 17 civil society partners, the project helps disadvantaged women join forces to develop sustainable farming practices, run conservation projects and promote the regeneration of pastures and wastelands. These networks also link women with financial institutions and provide them with the strength and influence they need to negotiate effectively with local government officials.

Many of the environment issues the world is facing today, from climate change to ozone depletion, are global in nature. With funding from the GEF, UNDP supports international cooperation to promote sustainable development. The GEF is a financial mechanism that supports action to address critical threats to the global environment, including biodiversity loss, degradation of land and international waters and persistent organic pollutants. UNDP is one of the implementing agencies of the GEF, along with UNEP and the World Bank. UNDP-GEF has 1,750 projects on the ground in more than 155 developing countries. In 2005, in support of these projects, UNDP secured $284.5 million from GEF and attracted $1.02 billion in co-financing from governments and donors.

Through GEF, UNDP helps countries use energy more efficiently and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In Viet Nam, where the use of electricity is increasing dramatically as a result of growing urban populations, UNDP launched a $15 million programme in Ho Chi Minh City and in Quy Nhon, in the Binh Dinh Province to promote the use of energy-efficient street lighting. Run in partnership with the Vietnamese Academy of Science and Technology, the project is expected to result in energy savings of 310 gigawatt hours and greenhouse gas reductions equivalent to 133 kilo tons of carbon dioxide over the next five years.