The relationship between environmental sustainability and poverty is two-fold. From an environmental perspective poverty is often seen as a key driving force behind unsustainable environmental use. In relation to poverty reduction though, the environmental aspect of sustainability is often neglected. This is despite the fact that the poor are the most exposed to environmental changes and are the most reliant on access to natural resources for their livelihood and coping strategies. Environmental change then, can drive poverty. For the chronically poor, assets which can buffer against environmental hazards and entitlements to good-quality environmental resources are important.

A key point raised in the paper is that the environment as a concept should become much more holistic, encompassing the bio-physical setting within which people relate to each other and to their surroundings This would helps to view environment, not as a driver and maintainer of chronic poverty acting in isolation, but rather as a cause which interacts with other social, political and economic factors.

The document concludes that there are three main themes that require further consideration when addressing chronic poverty:

• the environment and health
• access to and use of natural resources
• climate change

The author recommends that literature research be conducted on specific areas within these themes in order to investigate further how and why they are important for our understanding of chronic poverty; to identify any gaps in knowledge and to increase our understanding. Finally, the paper highlights the need to fully incorporate the environment across the main problem areas in poverty research.