Global Goals and the Environment: Progress and prospects

This report provides a comprehensive overview of progress on Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 7, Ensuring Environmental Sustainability, based on official indicators and data. Relying on statistical evidence, the report pinpoints what goals and targets have been met, by when and where, and in what areas has progress been inadequate compared to national baselines.

The research found connections clearly showing that healthy ecosystems are a prerequisite to meeting some of the most essential goals of global development. Protecting the integrity of forests, the health of fish stocks or keeping the ozone layer intact are of fundamental, not tangential, importance for human well-being. This is particularly the case for the poorest and most vulnerable, who are the most likely to directly depend on the provisions of these aspects of the environment for their well-being and often survival. Efforts to reduce extreme poverty are inseparable from efforts to keep ecosystems and environmental conditions healthy and robust.