GCRF: Developing an Environmentally-adjusted Index for Multidimensional Poverty

作为可持续发展目标重点的贫困和环境政策的交叉点为利用二手数据提供了重要机会。虽然对这两个领域都进行了深入的单独研究，但大多数（如果不是全部的话）全球公认的贫穷指标都忽略了自然环境的作用。ESRC资助的研究项目，如ESPA（减轻贫困的生态系统服务）进一步强调，低收入和中等收入国家的许多生态系统服务文献主要关注生态系统作为获得食物、能源或提高生活水平（即生态系统的供应服务）的工具的作用。然而，人们越来越认识到，除了普遍接受的供应服务外，能够以有意义的方式（文化上、精神上）与自然环境接触，以及通过接触自然抵御冲击和减少脆弱性的能力具有内在价值。在Amartya Sen（1999）提出的能力方法中，人类对自然依赖的这些维度被称为“功能”，它使人们能够过上“美好的生活”。这种方法构成了众所周知的多维贫困指数（MPI）的理论基础，该指数被100多个国家正式用于确定贫困人口。MPI提供了关于贫穷发生率和强度的严格统计数据，并包括与健康、教育和生活水平有关的方面。因此，它是支持可持续发展目标议程的有力工具，该议程特别注意纳入环境因素。2015年后全球MPI能否实现与可持续发展目标相关的跨国比较，取决于能否获得充足和适当的环境与贫困二手数据。本提案旨在制定这样一项措施。利用来自巴西的二手数据（请参阅支持案例中证明这一重点的详细说明），我们建议开发并测试开发环境调整MPI的可能性，该MPI可以帮助衡量2015年后可持续发展目标议程的实现进展。我们将把经环境调整的MPI统计数据与现有的MPI统计数据进行比较，以了解由这些替代指标衡量的贫困和福祉的发生率和经历模式。例如，如果根据当前MPI确定为贫困的人与无法应对自然灾害和气候变化风险的人相同，并且无法接触和有意意地参与自然环境，那么贫困可能是相同的。其次，需要了解观察到的国内生产总值和收入的改善（在巴西）是否反映在更广泛定义的经环境调整的MPI中。因此，我们将研究不同MPI维度随时间和空间的趋势。我们的目标是评估巴西的国家级扶贫战略，如巴西零饥饿计划中的家庭津贴计划，以评估这些政策的重点（在选择有针对性的干预措施和选择受益者方面）是否可以解释现有MPI和环境调整措施中观察到的趋势。在对巴西案例进行详细分析的基础上，我们建议利用我们在尼泊尔强大的现有研究和合作网络，在符合oda资格的对比背景下检验这一措施。对于全球比较分析而言，重要的是要使本项目产生的措施适用于不同的情况。数据可得性、研究能力和实施的背景都很重要，而且尼泊尔与巴西的情况非常不同。通过与主要研究和影响伙伴合作探索尼泊尔环境调整MPI措施的不同需求和挑战，我们将研究这种全球可比措施的潜力。

The intersection of poverty and environment policies that is the focus of the Sustainable Development Goals provides an important opportunity for the use of secondary data. Whilst both areas have been intensively individually studied, most if not all globally accepted poverty indicators have ignored the role of the natural environment. ESRC funded research programmes such as ESPA (Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation) have furthermore highlighted that much of the ecosystem services literature in low and middle income countries has been primarily concerned with the role of ecosystems as an instrument for getting food, energy or better living standards (i.e. ecosystem's provisioning services). However, there is growing recognition that being able to engage with the natural environment in a meaningful way (culturally, spiritually) and the ability to withstand shocks and reduce vulnerability through access to nature are intrinsically valuable, in addition to the generally accepted provisioning services. These dimensions of human dependence on nature are so-called 'functionings' in the Capabilities Approach, developed by Amartya Sen (1999), and allow people to live a 'good life'. This approach forms the theoretical basis of the well known Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), officially used by over 100 countries to identify the poor. The MPI provides rigorous statistics on poverty incidence and intensity, and includes dimensions related to health, education and living standards. It is therefore a strong instrument to support the SDG agenda, which pays particular attention to the inclusion of environmental factors. Operationalisation of a post-2015 global MPI that allows cross-country comparison in relation to the SDGs depends on the availability of adequate and appropriate secondary data on environment and poverty. This proposal aims to develop such a measure. Using secondary data from Brazil (see details justifying this focus in the Case for Support), we propose to develop and test the possibility of developing an environmentally-adjusted MPI that can help measure progress towards the achievement of the post-2015 SDG agenda. We will compare the environmentally-adjusted MPI statistics to existing MPI statistics to understand the patterns of incidence and experience of poverty and wellbeing, as measured by these alternative indicators. For instance, poverty may be the same if people identified as being poor under the current MPI are the same as those unable to deal with risks of natural hazards and climate change, and unable to access and engage meaningfully with the natural environment. Secondly, there is a need to understand whether the observed improvement in GDP and income (in Brazil) are reflected in the more broadly defined environmentally-adjusted MPI. Therefore, we will look into the trends in the different MPI dimensions over time and space. We will aim to evaluate national level poverty-alleviation strategies in Brazil, such as the Bolsa Familia programme of Brazil's Fome Zero programme, to evaluate if the focus of these policies (in terms of the choice of targeted interventions and choice of beneficiaries) can explain the observed trends in both the existing MPI and an environmentally-adjusted measure. Building on the detailed analysis of the Brazilian case, we propose to use our strong existing research and collaborative networks in Nepal to test this measure in a contrasting ODA-eligible context. For globally comparative analyses, it is important for the measures that emerge from this project to be applicable in diverse contexts. Data availability, research capacity and the context for implementation all matter, and are very different in Nepal relative to Brazil. By collaboratively exploring the different needs and challenges of an environmentally-adjusted MPI measure in Nepal with key research and impact partners, we will investigate the potential for such a globally comparable measure.