The terrible earthquake that struck Haiti in January
2010 brought to public awareness an immediate
crisis of horrific proportions—and also an
ongoing slow-motion disaster of poverty and suffering
in a nation of 10 million people, including an environmental
crisis. News reports showed its neighbor,
the Dominican Republic (DR), also with a population
of 10 million, with higher incomes, less poverty,
and much better environmental conditions.
Haiti’s environmental disaster could have been
substantially averted with better domestic policies.
And so it is not the root cause of Haiti’s problems.
But why were better environmental (and other supporting)
policies not in place? That is, what were
the limits of Haiti’s institutions in this respect? And
are Haiti’s environmental problems caused by the
country’s great poverty? Has environmental degradation
itself now also become one of the causes of
continued economic and human development stagnation?
What could have been done with welltargeted
aid, and what role can aid play now?