Income Inequality Degrades the Environment

唐藝嘉

【Abstract】The society is more unequal today than at any point since the industrial revolution. Also， environmental degradation is doing harm to the entire human well-being and even the next several generations. With the aim of analyzing income inequality and environmental problems in depth as well as to propose some valid policy recommendations， this paper will argue that the rising income inequality will inevitably exacerbate environmental problems， and different perspectives stated by Ravallion and Stiglitz will be mentioned and analyzed as proofs.

【Key words】Income inequality； Environmental problems； Policy recommendations

These days， the problems of inequality and environmental harms are catching increasing attention throughout the world. Among all the kinds of inequalities， income inequality is one of the most important which human beings cannot ignore. In Stiglitzs paper， he argues that while environmental problems contribute to inequality， inequality can also contribute to environmental problems. In Ravallions paper， he argues that income inequality matters to progress against poverty mainly in three aspects： changes in inequality will influence how much that growth affects poverty， initial inequality reduces the growth elasticity of poverty reduction， and a high initial level of inequality can mean less growth and hence progress against poverty.

Based on these perspectives， the statement that the rising income inequality will exacerbate environmental degradations can be proposed. As Stiglitz argues， people with extremely low living standards care less about environmental problems. Living closest to the margin of survival， they have least ability to withstand adversity and afford remedial measures to environmental problems. In turn， failing to show quick response to environmental degradations worsens their living conditions and hence leads to higher degree of poverty. As a result， wider income inequality can lead to higher levels of environmental harms. A substantial literature in the United States has documented the fact that low-income people often bear more environmental harms. For example， in urban India where public water supplies are often contaminated， the upper and middle classes can afford to consume bottled water， while the poor cannot. Therefore， the poor are less able to avoid environmental harms.

All in all， faced with income inequality and environmental harm， human should not tackle with them totally separately. Since the inequality of income inevitably exacerbates the environment， the degree of income inequality needs to be reduced with the intention of improving the environment. However， it is impossible to eliminate environmental problems thoroughly since people need and want to eat and wear， and producing these goods and services often produces some pollution. Faced with the choice between more goods and services and less pollution， the economist presents to aim for the “optimal level of pollution”， defined as the point at which societys benefit from additional pollution reduction equals its consumption on other goods and services. During this process， the government plays a significant role. In order to reduce income inequality， first of all， the governments need to set long-term as well as short-term goals in terms of the interconnection between income inequality and environmental problems. Also， the public should be informed of the importance of inequality reduction by the national media as much as possible. Furthermore， it is possible for the government to spread the capital economy more equally with the requirement for more civic engagement in environmental protection， which can improve the public enthusiasm and willingness to protect the environment and meanwhile reduce the inequality reduction. One way or the other， human well-beings need to take out perseverance and prepare for a long-term struggling.

References：

[1]Boyce， JK， 2007， Is Inequality Bad for the Environment PERI， Working Paper Series No.135， University of Massachusetts， Amherst.

[2]Ravallion， 2014， Income Inequality in the Developing World， SCIENCE， VOL 344 ISSUE 6186.

[3]Stiglitz， JE， Inequality and Environmental Policy， Resource 2020 Lecture.

[4]United Nations Development Program （UNDP）， 2013， Humanity Divided： Confronting Inequality in Developing Countries.