Post 2015: Global Action for an Inclusive and Sustainable Future

CHApTER TEn
Economic growth
and poverty
eradication cannot
be sustained
without regard for
the environment.
A post-2015
framework must
consider the
environmental,
economic and social
dimensions of
sustainability.
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multi-dimensional perspective of poverty (Section
5.3.1) that better reflects the experiences of those
concerned provides a better understanding of the
root causes and suggests a more nuanced array of
entry points to tackle the multiple deprivations
people living in poverty often face.
poverty eradication should thus remain a central
focus of a post-2015 development framework,
without which it is impossible to realise a vision
of inclusive and sustainable development. In
particular, the eradication of extreme poverty
should be an urgent priority. at the same time, a
new global framework must be relevant to different
national realities. For instance, while extreme
income poverty remains a considerable challenge
in SSa and South asia, and parts of other regions,
relative income poverty appears to be a better
reflection of the concerns in many emerging and
transition – and indeed advanced – economies.
In addition, there is a growing recognition that
income-based poverty measures fail to capture
the full extent of deprivation and exclusion.
Hence, concepts of multi-dimensional poverty and
wellbeing are critical to changing how poverty is
understood, measured, and tackled.
Inequality should be explicitly tackled in a post-
2015 framework. the mDG targets have often been
criticised for focusing on average indicators, which
mask the different rates of progress between countries
and among different groups of people. In fact, the
evidence suggests that those who have not benefited
from progress towards achieving the mDGs tend
to be from vulnerable social sectors – such as the
poor, women, youth, and ethnic minorities. Growing
in-country inequality thwarts people’s ability to
participate actively in the economy and society,
which further entrenches poverty. Hence, a post-
2015 framework should explicitly measure these
gaps and provide incentives to reduce inequality
of opportunities and of outcomes with a view to
achieving inclusive and sustainable development.
this may require the disaggregation of critical post-
EuropEan rEport on DEvElopmEnt 2013
2015 indicators, such as those related to income
opportunities (e.g. employment) and access to basic
services, with a view to monitoring and tackling the
specific problems facing vulnerable social groups.
measures to promote inclusive growth and ensure
an adequate redistribution should therefore be high
on the agenda.
box 10.1 illustrates how peru, an umIc, is dealing
with issues of economic and social exclusion. poorer
countries may be unable to pursue similar strategies
due to financial, human, and technical constraints.
as the peru case study (barrantes and berdegué,
2012) emphasises, the international community
should continue to support these countries to
address social exclusion (e.g. by helping to establish
and improve social protection schemes).
another vital element relates to environmental
sustainability. mDG7 has generally been regarded
as fairly weak and poorly designed, mainly due to
the lack of well-defined targets (with the exception
of those on water and sanitation) and disagreements
on principles such as ‘common but differentiated’
responsibilities. current evidence on the potentially
devastating effects of adverse climate change and
environmental degradation emphasise the extent
and urgency of the threats that must be addressed
in a new framework (see chapter 6). For instance,
people living in poverty are disproportionately
affected by environmental changes, since these
often have a direct impact on their livelihoods.
Economic growth and poverty eradication cannot
be sustained without regard for the environment.
In order to promote inclusive and sustainable
development, a post-2015 framework must consider
the environmental, economic and social dimensions
of sustainability, as well as their strong interactions
in terms of risks and vulnerabilities.
10.3.2 Pursuing a transformational agenda
Some observers have argued that the
conceptualisation of development as ‘poverty
eradication’ may have led to an over-simplification