Where is the Poverty–Environment Nexus? Evidence from Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Vietnam SUSMITA DASGUPTA, UWE DEICHMANN, CRAIG MEISNER and DAVID WHEELER * The World Bank, Washington, DC, USA Summary. — Thispaperinvestigatesthepoverty–environmentnexusattheprovincialanddistrict levelsinCambodia,LaoPDR,andVietnam.Theanalysisfocusesonspatialassociationsbetween povertypopulationsandfiveenvironmentalproblems:deforestation,fragilesoils,indoorairpollu- tion,contaminatedwater,andoutdoorairpollution.Theresultssuggestthatthenexusisquitedif- ferent in each country. We conclude that the nexus concept can provide a useful catalyst for country-specificwork,butnotageneralformulaforprogramdesign.Jointimplementationofpov- erty and environment strategies may be cost effective for some environmental problems, but inde- pendent implementation may be preferable in many cases as well. Ó 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Key words — poverty, pollution, basic needs, deforestation, sanitation, natural resources 1. INTRODUCTION Duringthepastfewyears,thepublicationsof international development agencies have high- lightedtheimportanceofthe‘‘poverty–environ- mentnexus,’’asetofmutuallyreinforcinglinks between poverty and environmental damage (Bojo ¨ et al., 2001; Bosch, Hommann, Rubio, Sadoff, & Travers, 2001; Ekbom & Bojo ¨, 1999).Inthisnexus,povertyreductionandenvi- ronmentalprotectionarecomplementarygoals. For environmentalists, the nexus concept has providedawelcomedefenseagainstarguments, based on the ‘‘Environmental Kuznets Curve,’’ that the early stages of development are unavoidably marked by conflicts between pov- erty reduction and environmental protection. 1 Common profession of belief in the nexus has also smoothed uneasy relations between envi- ronmental specialists and traditional project officers in development aid organizations. Numerous studies have suggested that envi- ronmental damage can have particular signifi- cance for the poor. Recent participatory poverty assessments, conducted in 14 develop- ing countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin Amer- ica, reveal a common perception by the poor that environmental quality is an important determinant of their health, earning capacity, security, energy supplies, and housing quality (Brocklesby&Hinshelwood,2001).Ruralstud- ies often observe that poor people’s economic dependence on natural resources makes them particularlyvulnerabletoenvironmentaldegra- dation (Ambler, 1999; Cavendish, 1999, 2000; Kepe, 1999; Reddy & Chakravarty, 1999). Other studies have assessed the health damage suffered by poor households that are directly exposedtopollutionoftheair,water,andland (Akbar & Lvovsky, 2000; Bosch et al., 2001; Brooks & Sethi, 1997; Mink, 1993; Songsore & McGranahan, 1993; Surjadi, 1993). In addi- tion, environmental disasters and environ- ment-related conflicts may have regressive impacts because the poor are least capable of coping with their effects (Albla-Betrand, 1993; Myers & Kent, 1995). In some cases, poor households them- selvesmayincreaseenvironmentaldegradation. * The authors would like to thank Jostein Nygard, Giovanna Dore, Piet Buys, Kiran Pandey, and Hua Wang, for their valuable comments and contributions. This research was supported by the World Bank’s Environment Department and its East Asia and Pacific Unit for Environment and Social Development. Final revision accepted: October 11, 2004. World Development Vol. 33, No. 4, pp. 617–638, 2005 Ó 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved Printed in Great Britain 0305-750X/$ - see front matter doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2004.10.003 www.elsevier.com/locate/worlddev 617