This paper discusses the interplay between poverty and environmental degradation. The main questions addressed are: How should the environmental aspects of poverty be addressed through policy measures? Should existing measures be modified or are wholly new approaches required? The paper takes the view that since people are instruments, beneficiaries as well as victims of development, their active involvement in the process is the key to any sustainable efforts; and that without continuous improvement of the welfare of the people, environmental programmes will not succeed. This is because the poor tend to be the hardest hit by environmental degradation. At the same time, they also cause much of the damage due to short-term requirements lack of resources and ignorance.
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