Publication: Nature's Paradox: Stepping Stone or Millstone?
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2025-05-13
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2025-05-13
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This report is about the intersection of two major crises of the 21st century—the sustainability crisis and the social exclusion and inequality crisis. The world is facing massive environmental degradation. Some of these challenges—including climate change, ecosystem collapse, and ocean acidification—represent global existential threats. Others, such as air pollution, water pollution, and land degradation, inflict significant costs on local populations. These environmental challenges are a byproduct of unsustainable practices in the pursuit of economic growth. And while this growth has raised living standards around the world, and lifted billions out of poverty, not all countries or peoples have benefited equally.
The research presented in this report focuses on the interaction between social exclusion and natural capital—the world’s stock of natural resources and environmental assets, which include soil, water, and air. It seeks to determine how socially excluded populations fit into their wider environment, asking whether their lands are in less productive geographies, they endure disproportionately higher levels of pollution, their usage patterns of natural capital lead to more rapid depletion, they are systematically denied equivalent access to the environmental amenities and natural resources they need for a decent life on a livable planet, and so on.
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“Damania, Richard; Ebadi, Ebad; Mayr, Kentaro; Rentschler, Jun; Russ, Jason; Zaveri, Esha. 2025. Nature's Paradox: Stepping Stone or Millstone?. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/42610 License: CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO.”
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