Increase of slums danger to environment, warns Tibaijuka

By Peter Orengo

Slums and informal settlements are to blame for pollution.

Speaking at the Global Environment Ministers Forum in Nairobi, Executive Director of UN-Habitat, Anna Tibaijuka termed cities the worst polluters.

"Cities are the engines of economic productivity and cultural creativity, but they also generate the bulk of our waste. As a result, about one billion people are living in slums and informal settlements today," she said.

Poor health

Besides suffering from poor health, poor nutrition and lack of access to education, slum dwellers have become the unwitting contributors to pollution and deforestation.

Executive Director of UN-Habitat Anna Tibaijuka.

Because they lack access to modern and affordable energy supply, many slum dwellers, especially in Africa, continue to rely on biomass.

They pollute rivers and watersheds because they lack access to modern water supply and sanitation, said Ms Tibaijuka.

And, if current trends are allowed to continue, slum dwellers are likely to increase to two billion by 2030.

Tibaijuka said this crisis would affect availability of public funds for social services and private capital to finance improvements in housing, basic infrastructure and services.

"Conventional wisdom also tells us that the global economic downturn will lead to fewer employment opportunities, affecting first and foremost the developing countries and the poor," she said.

Solutions range from water harvesting to solar energy, and affordable mass transit to bio-fuel production.

Improved services

But this requires political will, well-founded policies and an enabling business environment, she noted.

The medium- and long-term impacts of climate change were also an opportunity for promoting sustainable urbanisation.

"Both adaptive and preventive measures in cities and towns will require substantial investments in infrastructure, improved services, and in planning," she said.

She said UN-Habitat would contribute to the goal of sustainable urbanisation by working closely with its partners within and outside the UN-System.