Resource information
The analysis of the cost of
environmental degradation conducted as part of the country
environmental analysis (CEA) shows that the most costly
problems associated with environmental degradation are urban
and indoor air pollution; inadequate water supply,
sanitation, and hygiene; natural disasters (such as flooding
and landslides); and land degradation. The burden of these
costs falls most heavily on vulnerable segments of the
population. To address these problems, this report
identifies a number of cost-effective policy interventions
that could be adopted in the short and medium terms to
support sustainable development goals. In recent decades,
considerable progress has been made in addressing the water
and the forestry environmental agendas. The impact of
environmental degradation on the most vulnerable groups
suggests the need to increase emphasis on environmental
health issues. However, the environmental management agenda
has yet to catch up with this shift in priorities from
watershed and forestry to environmental health problems
because mechanisms in the current institutional structure to
signal these changes are not yet in place. Improved
monitoring and dissemination of information on environmental
outcomes, assignment of accountability for environmental
actions and outcomes, and involvement of a broad range of
stakeholders are three important mechanisms to allow these
signals to be picked up.
