Wangari Maathai is the 2004 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, and founder of the Greenbelt Movement. She has spent her life as an activist promoting women’s rights, civil society and environmental protection. The international arm of the Greenbelt Movement focuses on empowering African women and girls, especially nurturing their leadership and entrepreneurial skills.

Ms. Maathi has said that ‘‘Africa is not poor. But the people of Africa are poor. They do not have the skills to use the resources they have in abundance. There can be no development in Africa if the continent does not use its resources effectively.''
In this short film, Ms. Maathai discusses the value of human rights and politics in creating a just society.

Photo: Thatcher Cook for Mercy Corps

Can poor countries afford to be green?

A new report, the annually released Environmental Performance Index suggests that poor countries have been justified to disagree with blocs who demand environmental and other green protections even to the opposition of economic growth, according to the Economist. The connection between economic growth and the environment is not entirely clear, the study finds.

“Economic growth, coupled with good governance, may yet prove to be a source of solutions rather than problems. At the moment, perhaps 2 billion people have no formal access to modern energy—they make do with cow dung, agricultural residue and other solid fuels which are far from healthy. Unless foresight and intelligence are applied to the satisfaction of these people's needs, they may embrace the filthiest and most carbon-emitting forms of fossil-fuel energy as soon as they get the chance.”

The report concludes that a combination of growth and transparent government may be the only solution to avoiding this potential disaster. In fact, if developing countries were able to bypass the most polluting stages of their economic development, all parties would be better off.