Nature's Paradox: Stepping Stone or Millstone?

Nature's Paradox: Stepping Stone or millstone is about the intersection of two major crises of the 21st century--the sustainability crisis and the social exclusion and inequality crisis. Our planet is grappling with severe environmental issues, including climate change and ecosystem collapse, which pose global existential threats. Local communities bear the brunt of other issues like air and water pollution and land degradation, which stem from unsustainable economic growth models. Although historical growth has improved living standards globally, the benefits have not been evenly distributed. Nature's Paradox delves into the nexus between social exclusion and environmental decline, focusing on those at higher risk of exclusion due to their identity--ethnicity, race, or Indigenous status. It introduces the Underrepresentation Risk Index (URRI) to quantify the extent of exclusion from decision making, revealing that around one in four people globally face a high risk of political underrepresentation and its associated vulnerabilities. Nature's Paradox finds that underrepresented groups predominantly reside in rural areas, are employed in agriculture, and have limited access to essential public services. While they are less exposed to air and water pollution, the impact on them is disproportionately high, likely due to a lack of public services and an inability to cope with their impacts. These groups also suffer more from land degradation and deforestation, with the notable exception of Indigenous Peoples in Latin America, which show lower deforestation rates. Finally, Nature's Paradox explores additional dimensions of social exclusion, including poverty and gender disparities, and their interplay with the developed underrepresentation index, offering a more comprehensive understanding of the potential interconnections between social exclusion and environmental hazards. The analysis highlights the difficult choices socially excluded and underrepresented populations face between economic opportunities and environmental quality. The report concludes with a call for policy designs to ensure that environmental sustainability efforts are equitable and that progress is environmentally sustainable.