Cash crisis 'lax' on environment

Cash crisis 'lax' on environment

WASHINGTON (Reuters): The world financial crisis that has
gutted the economies of countries such as Indonesia, Russia and
Brazil is also hurting their environment, an environmental
advocacy group said on Thursday.

Friends of the Earth said the fallout from the crisis has led
to lax environmental policies, increased logging and other
harmful practices.

In Indonesia, where slow growth and high inflation has led to
a 15 percent drop in industrial production, pollution actually
rose by 18 percent despite the closing of many factories that
produce waste, the group said.

Matthew Siegel, an international policy consultant for Friends
of the Earth, said this rise occurred because the government
could not afford to spend resources on cracking down on companies
that did not properly dispose of their waste.

The Indonesian government also lifted a log export ban and cut
the log export tax in order to generate revenues, leading to
increased logging.

In Russia, the cash crisis has forced the Russian government
to consider cutting trees in Siberia, which had previously been
considered too remote to profit from.

Friends of the Earth said Brazil cut its spending on
environmental programs by two-thirds in order to meet targets
laid out in its loan repayment plan with the International
Monetary Fund.