Rapid urbanisation, poverty & environmental degradation will remain the greatest sustainability challenges in 21st century

Green agenda are spearheading discussions on resource management, global climate change and biodiversity issues, while the environmental problems known as 'brown agenda' in the urban areas are still being neglected in the developing countries although the planning and development professionals around the world are striving tirelessly for the greatest outcome possible. It is well accepted that rapid urbanisation has aggravated problems like sanitation and drainage, improper disposal of solid and hazardous waste, degradation of soil and land, uncontrolled emissions from the domestic and industrial activities, traffic congestions etc. resulting in poor public health.

Cities and towns have been hubs of economic development but a good question to be asked - do the rapid industrialisation, urbanisation and development of communication network have been impetus for economic development at the cost of environment? The root causes of environmental degradation in urban areas are unplanned and hardly coordinated inter-play of socio-economic, institutional and technical activities. There are many factors, which may have greater impacts on the urban environment but poverty still remains at the root of several environmental problems. Let us try to understand urban poverty and environmental degradation before blaming each other.

Urbanisation and industrialisation have provided livelihood and opportunities to the millions of people, but at the same time they have brought in the accompanied problems such as waste disposal, environmental degradation, disease-causing agents and pollutants, contamination of air, soil and surface water etc. The more we achieved rapid growth of industrial production, the more we experienced problems related to industrial pollution.

Urban environmental degradation in the developing countries is associated with households and businesses; those are not served by sewers, drains and waste collection facilities. Lack of or improper sewage treatment plants are contributing to the water pollution problems. Sources of air pollution are uncontrolled emissions and it is coming from the industries. Also, increasing number of motor vehicles which are often without catalyst converters and these vehicles has poorly maintained engines. In the urban areas, answers to the reasons for persistence of poverty can be traced back to environmental degradation. The urban poor are usually the most exposed to weather and thus most affected by environmental pollution. Therefore, attempt to tackle environmental problems without addressing poverty is likely to fail. Poverty reduction and effective environmental management in the urban areas are mutually dependent. Poverty is both cause and effect of environmental degradation.

This relationship between poverty and environmental degradation is of course an extremely complex phenomenon. Inequalities and lack of opportunities, social exclusion, lack of access to essential utilities that foster un-sustainability among a section of population, which results in environmental degradation because they do not find any other way but to using the available alternatives e.g. drains for toilet, live in a place which is already polluted, use contaminated water, generate waste and subsequently pollute the environment further.

It is well accepted that large population put stress on the environment, society and resources. Just imagine the current world population which is 7.2 billion and it is projected to increase up to 9.6 billion by 2050. Over population not only requires destruction of more and more natural resources but also generates large number of waste, which is associated with environmental stresses like loss of biodiversity, water pollution, air pollution and increased pressure on arable land. Over-consumption and unsustainable development may have the greater impacts and that is why the choices of how to use the resources and for what purposes are very important.

Furthermore, economic opportunities in the urban areas and their absence in the rural have created a huge urban-rural gap. Lack of opportunities for employment and associated stresses, impacts of climate changes are leading to ever-increasing migration of rural poor families to the towns. Urban slums are expanding due to increasing population in the cities. This rapid and unplanned expansion of the cities has resulted in the degradation of urban environment. The city of Dhaka is a classic example of this. Huge pressures have been created on the infrastructure and utilities such as energy, housing, transport, education, water supply, sewerage system and recreational amenities. These in turn speed up the deterioration of urban environment and the proliferation of slums contributes further to urban poverty.

If we look for some of the desirable improvements e.g. improved provision for water and sanitation, less crowded places, better quality housing, improved provision for storm and surface water drainage, avoidance of hazardous sites for settlements, promotion of cleaner household fuels and improved provision for solid-waste management, then probably financial needs would stand in the front row and one could argue that due to lack of money the poorer countries cannot build these infrastructures. In that case, poorer counties are bound to choose the model of economic growth, which requires exploitation of natural resources for expanding production. In rich countries, mass production and consumption is a major cause of environmental degradation and destruction of natural resources. In the poor countries, the creation of value and access to subsistence are typically linked to sacrificing environmental quality for short-term economic gain (Goodman and Redclift, 1991).

Poorer nations are introducing the neo-liberal policies, which turn rich people even richer, while the poor become poorer. Neo-liberal policies increases the material consumption, therefore more resources will be used and money will be diverted to produce and purchase these goods, hence poor people will be left behind. This has further led to ‘blaming the victims’ for their poverty. Blaming poverty as the main cause of urban environmental degradation will be one-sided narrowly focused conclusion. If poverty is a major concern in urban environment, conversely environmental degradation needs to be of great concern as well for further ill-being of the poor. It’s a vicious cycle and the poor are definitely caught in the middle.

High-income groups are far worse than low-income groups contributing to the environmental degradation by generating more waste and green house gas emissions. Improving urban poverty and preventing further environmental degradation or vice versa, the governments need to focus on sustainable urban infrastructure development with urban environmental management.

Circular Economy is logical, makes more environmental, economic and business sense

The ‘Circular Economy’ is a start-to-finish circular concept; hence it is not too difficult to imagine what the interpretation may indicate. It is an industrial economy, that rejects the traditional economic approach e.g. 'take-make-consume and dispose' pattern of growth, where degradation of environment by increased amount of waste are not an inevitable by-product. The Circular Economy concept is not new; it has been there for more than five decades. As Kenneth Ewart Boulding’s famous paper from 1966, the economics of the coming spaceship Earth, expressed the view that man will need to find his place in a cyclical ecological system which is capable of continuous reproduction of material. Basically, our society will need to follow a circular pattern so that the resources can be use for a longer period of time. 

To date, traditional industrial economy has created enormous waste and its adverse effects on the environment are well known. The fight for a sustainable future was not on the agenda after the industrial revolution as the society wanted to move forward by creating wealth, more consumption and comfortable livings. The world population has rapidly multiplied in the last 50 years than ever before. Therefore, there is an urgent need to look for more recyclable and alternative materials. And, that is why the recycling and material flow lies at the heart of the Circular Economy concept, which has now become part and parcel of our fight for a sustainable future. It is not only the end of life of a product which is important but the design phase is even more important, for example 80% of a product’s environmental impact is locked in at the design stage. We need to use the right materials from a very early stage in the product development cycle.

However, developing new products with the right materials at design stage is just one of the pieces of the puzzle. The other equally important piece is the effective use of existing resources. Let us take a more realistic view to understand the importance of effective use of existing resources. Imagine for a moment that all the precious metals such as Gold, Silver, Platinum, Palladium, Copper, Nickel, and Aluminium have run out. Now, ask yourself a simple question - 'why did we not think about these precious materials before, which are used to make the computer circuit boards might run out one day? In order to prevent it, we should at least have invented a method where these metals would eventually come back to the production process to be used up again?' That is exactly what the circular economy concept is proposing to take on – a closed loop recycling, a process where post-consumption waste is collected, recycled and used to make new products.

There is clearly a business case for circular economy as a mean to resource efficiency and cost savings, effectively more sustainable growth, competiveness, less impact on environment and climate. It is a perfect marriage between environmental protection and making profits. A McKinsey study in 2013 estimated for 2030 the financial benefit of resource efficiency will be at around $3 trillion per year; 70-85 percent of this potential would be in developing countries." Just imagine the massive boost to the GDP by adding trillions to the developing countries’ economies. This is to say that the developing countries have more advantages compared to the developed countries. This is because their economies are not locked in the markets that would only follow the traditional linear economic models. That is to say, it will be easier to break and re-shape the economic models of the developing countries. 

Despite the growing acceptance for the Circular Economy, there are still many barriers and common misperceptions that exist. One of the biggest misperception is that, if we encourage people to re-use or keep their products for longer; then it would discourage sales. Hence profits will go down; effectively there will be no interests from the business communities. On the contrary, I think Circular Economy concept will drive the innovation more than ever - creating new type of products, businesses, markets and consequently create more jobs in the new green industries. However, consumers are the key group who need to understand the green economic transformation and its benefits for the present and the future generations. In my view, this is one of the biggest challenges ahead whether the consumers are prepared to buy the products made from recyclable and alternative materials. 

Finally, Corporations have a bigger role to play moving towards a Circular Economy compared to smaller businesses. Corporations have necessary funding to kick-start the transition and they are in a position to persuade their supply chains and other stakeholders to change their business models. A collective approach would certainly need to drive of change in the fight for a sustainable future. The Circular Economy is definitely the way forward.