Incorporating the Environmental Dimension into Multidimensional Poverty Measurement: An Initial Proposition

TL;DR

This paper proposes a new multidimensional poverty indicator that incorporates environmental aspects, addressing a significant gap in existing measurement frameworks and emphasizing the importance of environmental rights in poverty assessment.

Contribution

It introduces an innovative indicator and six sub-indicators to measure access and quality of environmental resources within the multidimensional poverty framework.

Findings

Proposes a comprehensive environmental poverty indicator.

Highlights the under-representation of environmental factors in current measures.

Provides a methodological basis for integrating environmental rights into poverty measurement.

Abstract

Multidimensional poverty measurement has captured the attention of policy-makers and researchers during recent years. Mexico is one of the most advanced countries in the measurement of poverty beyond income indicators. However, both in Mexico and other countries which have attempted at measuring poverty from a multidimensional perspective, the environmental dimension, has been well under-represented. Based on international evidence and, using the welfare-rights based methodological framework used in Mexico to measure multi-dimensional poverty officially, the paper proposes an indicator and six sub-indicators for measuring the lack of a minimum welfare to fulfil the right to a healthy environment through 6 sub-indicators measuring effective access, quality and continuity with regards to water, energy, biodiversity, air, spatial health, waste management and the vulnerability to poverty from climate change impacts.