Corruption & Pollution
Bribes drive up greenhouse gas emissions
Bribes, kickbacks and under-the-table deals aren’t just fixtures of crime narratives. They can also be bad for the environment. A new analysis of data from more than 100 countries shows that rooting out corruption may be a powerful means to slow greenhouse gas emissions in the developing world.
It’s a story that would hardly shock conservationists: In many developing nations, the bulk of pollution, including emissions of greenhouse gases like sulphur dioxide, arises from industries outside of the government’s reach. Members of such “shadow” economies–any money-earners not directly regulated by officials–range from back-country gold miners to factory owners and even taxi drivers.
Not surprisingly, hidden industries frequently pollute more than their above-the-board rivals, say Amit Biswas of the Technische Universität in Dresden, Germany and colleagues. Many artisanal gold diggers, for instance, employ unchecked doses of mercury to strip ore from rocks. And even if these rural miners are caught in the act, they can often bribe their way out of fines, the researchers say.
To explore these trends on the global scale, the team wrote a mathematical equation to estimate the factors leading to the spread of rogue industries and their influence on pollution. They then plugged in actual economic and sulphur pollution data from more than 100 countries. In a final twist, the team also graded levels of corruption, ranging from zero–a nation filled with boy scouts–to six–think Gotham City in the Batman franchise.
Sure enough, non-regulated enterprises did spew more greenhouse gases. In the most corrupt nations, a 1% increase in the size of the shadow economy spiked sulphur dioxide emissions by nearly 1.5%, Biswas and colleagues report in Ecological Economics. That spurt could stem from anything from more trash burning to more hired drivers zipping across town in run-down vehicles.
But the corruptability of officials may play an even bigger role in pollution, the researchers say. Based on their calculations, if Zimbabwe–which scored a six in 2005—could cut under-the-table deals down to levels seen next door in Zambia –a three–its air pollution would likely dip by 17%. Targeting corruption Batman-style, then, may be an effective means to keep greenhouse gas emitters honest, Biswas and colleagues argue. But, they note, education can also come in handy. Nations with the most learned populations tend to churn out less sulphur dioxide than their counterparts. – Daniel Strain | February 13, 2012
Source: Biswas AK, Fazanegan MR and Thum M. (2012) Pollution, shadow economy and corruption: Theory and evidence. Ecological Economics. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1959268. DOI:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2012.01.007
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