Concern for the impact of development on national and global environments has been growing as evidence accumulates of changes in weather patterns and increases in pollution levels, and the sustainability of patterns of the use of natural resources is questioned. The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro has drawn particular attention to two issues - global warming and declining big-diversity. There are many other issues which relate to environ-mental degradation. These include access to clean water, rising levels of air pollution and its consequences (e.g. acid rain, ozone depletion), excessive pesticide use and the consequences of the persistence of residues which contaminate food chains, disposal of solid wastes (both domestic and industrial) especially those that are hazardous, soil erosion, and deafforestation.
Most of these developments cannot be separated from the effects of high rates of population growth, which reduce the period over which adjustments can occur to changed patterns of land use, increased emissions and higher levels of consumption of products deleterious to the environment. The relationships between population growth and environmental degradation are not simple and can come in many forms. A recent analysis charts these and concludes "more people, short termist incentives, scarce land, and inadequate technical progress will validate the (environmental) degradation claim." (Lipton 1991:221). This analysis goes on to argue that high real interest rates are a central part of the system of incentives which discourages more environmentally sympathetic development thus linking environmental problems to the relationships between developed and developing countries in which aid is a significant dimension.
Poverty, as well as economic growth, can be responsible for some kinds of increased environmental degradation. Over intensive land use using inappropriate technologies can hasten soil erosion, denude forest cover, pollute fresh water sources, and diminish indoor air quality through the burning of big-mass. The initial stages of economic growth in poor economies often bring with them increased use of fossil fuels in vehicles and factories creating air pollution, urbanisation and changed consumption patterns which increase the volume of solid waste, and dense concentrations of populations consuming water that they cannot easily avoid polluting.
The most recent World Development Report argues that growth and greater levels of economic activity are not necessarily detrimental to environmental quality. In general higher income per capita is associated with better access to clean water and adequate sanitation. The concentration of particulate matter seems to first rise and then fall with per capita income as do urban concentrations of sulphur dioxide. On the other hand greater volumes of municipal waste and emissions of carbon dioxide are concomitants of increasing income. (World Bank 1992:11). The basic problem, from the World Bank's point of view, is to ensure that when decisions are made environmental costs are appropriately factored in and that the discount rate applied reflects the value placed on environmental quality. This may be easier said than done. It involves finding ways of including natural and environmental resources in national accounts, recording the depreciation of natural capital, including costing to "clean up" and restore assets (which is usually possible), and costing environmental damage (which is usually very difficult and not attempted) (Lutz and Munasinghe 1991:19).
There is a large literature characterised by advocacy rather than evidence on the desirability of environmental education programmes. Many countries have environmental science or environmental studies as curriculum offerings. In the majority these are not compulsory core subjects. In some this area provides a science option taken by students not academically able enough to follow pure science courses. In the development literature environmental issues appear to be more frequently cast in terms of economic and political concerns than educational ones (a recent special issue of World Development on Environment and Development (20(4) 1992) does not include any contributions specifically on educational aspects). Where environmental courses exist in schools there is evidence that they succeed in conveying messages about the causes of environmental degradation to students, that the importance of environmental issues conservation, sustainable livelihoods etc. - is more widely appreciated, and that attitudes expressed by children display environmental concerns (e.g. Lewin and Bajah 1990)
There may be studies which can show effects that go beyond this to demonstrate that behaviours have changed on a significant scale in ways which are environmentally sympathetic but if there are they are not prominent in the literature. Showing such effects is bound to be difficult since the causes of environmental deterioration usually exist in a complex web of interactions between social, economic and political factors that interact and which are mostly not directly susceptible to the effects of environmental education. The importance of support for environmental programmes, within schools and more generally throughout communities most at risk from environmental hazards that are the result of human activities, is probably better regarded as a medium to long term priority. Effects are likely to appear as more people become aware of the consequences of unsustainable farming practices, unsafe water sources, diseases arising from environmentally damaging production technologies, and more conscious of quality of life concerns. Environmental education programmes might reasonably be thought to influence all of these things.
The dimensions of the environmental debate which bear on educational assistance appear to be three fold.
First, environmental impact cannot be ascertained or monitored without an adequate number of scientifically and technically competent staff capable of undertaking data collection and analysis. Without this ignorance and prejudice will inform discussion rather than an accurate understanding of emerging problems and options available to reduce adverse effects of development policies on the environment.
Second, information on environmental changes has to be available to those who consciously or inadvertently damage the quality of the environment through activities necessary for their livelihoods.
Third, since the effects of environmental damage are often long term rather than short term, and since some may prove effectively irreversible after a threshold has been passed, a sophisticated as well as an immediate understanding of the issues is needed amongst specialists and, as far as possible, in the population as a whole.
Educational assistance can provide support for all three of these developments. The training of scientists and technologists, and the provision of an infrastructure to allow them to operate, is critical. In many countries, and especially in the poorest neither the human development infrastructure nor the physical infrastructure exist to enable this to happen effectively. Without it, dependence on outside expertise is complete. In some cases this expertise may well be over influenced by the commercial concerns of production organisations whose first interests lie in servicing the interest on the capital they may invest and in making returns for shareholders. The availability of environmental impact information can be supported in several ways. Part of the problem is to ensure that regulatory authorities have the ability to project the results of data collection and analysis into the public domain. Where this is possible it can then be included in materials used in educational organisations to reach a wide audience. School books, university texts newspapers and popular books can all heighten awareness of environmental issues and develop awareness of the range of costs and benefits involved in choices that have to be made.
More freely available information is however not itself sufficient to result in more informed decision making. The specialised and general audiences have to have the educational tools to interpret information and the awareness to make reasoned judgements. This often presents awkward dilemmas - individual and local interests in competition with national ones; employment generation accompanied by an increase in occupationally related diseases; higher immediate costs of goods and services compensated by lower long term adverse environmental damage. Increasing educational participation, and the intellectual skills this imparts will not in itself solve these dilemmas. It may lead to perverse outcomes - for example where educated minorities are able to deflect environmentally unfriendly projects away from their own back yard to other less articulate communities. But there is little prospect that without the increased awareness that educational experiences can provide that more balanced judgements can be made that have the support of the majority of the population. Without this development policies are unlikely to be sustainable in the long term.
