jp8589 WRI.qxd - World Resources Institute

CHAPTER 1
NATURE, POWER, AND POVERTY
important issue that democracy must deliver on in the developing
world. Put differently, the environment is not only a
powerful tool for promoting democratic reform, but good
environmental governance is fundamental to strengthening
and consolidating democracy. Democratic institutions, in turn,
are an important factor supporting strong economic growth
(Kaufmann et al. 1999:18).
This emphasis on good governance and environment is
particularly relevant when addressing poverty. The case studies in
this report and the experiences of an increasing number of
villages and communities in many nations suggest that efforts to
promote sustainable livelihoods among the poor are more
successful when they simultaneously promote ecosystem stewardship
and democratic governance. For that reason, a number of
development agencies and nongovernmental organizations
(NGOs) are beginning to focus on this integration of environment
and governance.
In spite of increasing interest in this integration, its application
to the alleviation of poverty is still new. Success will demand
a new openness to go beyond traditional economic development
strategies, or at least to add a more deliberate recognition of the
linkages among nature, power, and poverty.
The Persistence of Poverty
The persistence of global poverty is both disturbing and
humbling. Policymakers have long recognized the moral and
practical need to address the substantial number of people who
lack basic amenities such as adequate nutrition, housing, education,
or opportunity. But decades of piecemeal efforts have
brought only limited success. (See Box 1.1.)
More than a half century of persistent efforts by the
World Bank and others have not altered the stubborn
reality of rural poverty, and the gap between rich and
poor is widening.
—World Bank Strategy for Rural Development, 2003
Ending world poverty first become a stated goal of politicians
from industrialized countries in the 1940s, when
U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt stated his desire to extend
“freedom from want” not only to the people of the United States,
but to people in every nation (Roosevelt 1941). The United
Nations Charter, crafted in the same era, explicitly acknowledged
the need to promote “social progress and better standards of life”
across the globe (UN 1945). Almost 60 years later, at the United
Nations Millennium Summit in 2000, more than 100 heads of
state committed to reach the eight Millennium Development
Goals (UN General Assembly 2001:55).
These commitments confirm the simple fact that poverty
remains an obstacle to the development aspirations of most
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