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Root Causes of Transboundary Environmental Issues
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2.6. Root Causes of Transboundary Environmental Issues
Transboundary environmental issues in the Dnipro Basin, listed in the previous section, are driven by three root causes:
I. Historical unsustainable development
The existing state of the Dnipro Basin ecosystem is ultimately the legacy of large-scale unsustainable development in the decades prior to transition to a market economy. This includes the concentration, scale and sitting of industrial and agricultural complexes in the Basin. The extensive use of natural resources with little regard for ecosystem function has led to major, and in some instances, irreversible changes in the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems within the Basin.
II. The systemic socio-economic crisis during the transition
to a market economy
The transition from a centrally planned to a market guided economy has been accompanied by a sharp decline in standards of living, widened income inequalities and a deterioration in health conditions. The uncertainty of the conditions in which the economic transition is taking place, including the institutional environment and the weak state of law enforcement have; (a) hampered the progress of economic reform; (b) limited the development of market mechanisms; and (c) led to an economy based on immediate profits that gives little emphasis to environmental issues.
III. Prevailing attitudes which undervalue the environment
The lack of past attention to the value of the natural environment (as a provider of goods and services and for its intrinsic value) have led to a poor current state of awareness of the consequences of environmental degradation in government and civil society and a limited degree of motivation for environmental protection.
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Underlying Sectoral Causes of Transboundary Issues