Energy Provision, Poverty Alleviation and Sustainable Development

Abstract

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs — see Table 7.1), whilst explicitly aimed at poverty alleviation, all contain an environmental component. The eradication of hunger has obvious links to soil fertility and the need for functioning ecosystems. Less obvious are the environmental links to the MDGs of reducing child mortality, combating disease, improving maternal health and promoting universal primary education. Chapters 7 and 8 stress the importance of environmental factors in determining development outcomes, and how these best be acknowledged and addressed. The following statistics should be considered (Steele et al. 2002, pp. 10–14):

• 1. Up to 30 percent of all disease in Sub-Saharan African can be attributed to environmental factors.

• 2. Waterborne diseases kill nearly 3 million people a year, the majority of whom are young children.

• 3. Indoor air pollution and the effects of carrying heavy loads of water and firewood affect the health of women in developing countries and can lead to complications during pregnancy.

• 4. The time devoted to gathering water and firewood by young girls frequently results in them forgoing such educational opportunities as are available to them.