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Sustainable Development and the MDGsThe Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) serve as the new framework for sustainable development, setting social equity goals and targets that contribute to economic development while ensuring environmental sustainability. UNDP is committed to addressing and establishing political, local, and financial support towards sustainable development. UNDP provides assistance for national and local sustainable development strategies and policy practices, which facilitate the integration of sustainable development priorities into country policies and programmes. Integrating sustainable development principles into national policies is key to successful implementation and promotion of environmental sustainability. UNDP publications on Millennium Development Goal 7 to ensure environmental sustainability include:
Analysis of the MDG7 reports is ongoing and additional updates will be provided. Resources on MDG7 Monitoring and Environment and Sustainable Development Indicators - Monitoring and reporting on progress towards environmental sustainability has been given new impetus through the Millennium Development Goals and its results-orientation. Monitoring of environmental sustainability at the country level has received attention for considerable time, particularly in terms of observing changes in trends and the state of the environment. Chapter 40 of Agenda 21 called for monitoring and development of indicators. The new focus has resulted in a need for additional frameworks and tools and to ensure that monitoring is embedded in wider national frameworks and strategies for sustainable development. This has resulted in a growing abundance of literature and practices, which can be overwhelming to navigate. The links below provide access to a compilation of key resources, which can aid in monitoring progress towards ensuring environmental sustainability.
This workspace is intended to be a living document. Refinements will be made on an ongoing basis as additional resources and experiences are identified. How helpful is this workspace to your work? What else would you like to see on it? If you know of other resources not contained here, which may be helpful in monitoring country progress towards environmental sustainability, please send them to laura.lee@undp.org. Additional examples of good practice and lessons learned in overcoming challenges through country MDG7 monitoring are always welcome. Let us codify, learn from, and exchange the rich body of country experiences in this area. MDG7 Global Targets and Indicators
Human Development Report on Millennium Development Goals: A Compact Among Nations to End Human Poverty includes a specific chapter on MDG 7, Chapter 6 Public Policies to Ensure Environmental Sustainability. The UN 2005 World Summit Website includes follow up and main documents as well as resolutions, including the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document and the 2005 Report by the Secretary-General. United Nations 2006 MDG Report is an annual assessment of progress towards the MDGs. UNDG website contains MDG Country and Regional Reports, MDGnet, and MDG Resources. UNDP website on the MDGs provides information on the MDG targets and indicators, the Millennium Campaign - an outreach effort to inspire and encourage MDG efforts - progress, good practices and UNDP’s role in supporting the MDGs. UN Millennium Project
website offers reports on the way forward in achieving the MDGs,
tools for preparing MDG-based poverty reduction strategies and 2005
reports of the UN
Millennium Project Task Forces, including: World Bank MDG website provides an overview of the MDGs, MDG-related projects, and regional and global progress towards the MDGs.
Convention on Biological Diversity website includes decisions from the Conference of the Parties and links between its targets and implementation and achieving MDG. The 2005 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Ecosystems and Human Well-being explores the consequences of ecosystem change for human well-being and actions needed to enhance the conservation and sustainable use of ecosystems and their contributions to human well-being. UNDP highlights in Water Governance for Poverty Reduction 2004 key water related challenges, experiences and examples of successful approaches, and policy recommendations policy. World Resources 2005: The wealth of the poor—managing ecosystems to fight poverty includes a special section on the MDGs and concepts of environmental income and pro-poor environmental governance.
Energy Challenge for Achieving the MDGs, from UN Energy in 2005, presents the collective view of the UN agencies, programmes and organizations about the importance of energy for achieving the MDGs. DFID explains in its 2002 report, Energy for the Poor: underpinning the MDGs, how energy relates to each of the MDGs. Energy Services for the MDGs (2006) underscores the importance of energy services for the MDG agenda. UNDP’s 2006 publication, Expanding Access to Modern Energy Services, is about making progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals by expanding access to modern energy services.
MDGs and Poverty Reduction Strategies The Environment-poverty nexus article in the 2003 UNDP Development Policy Journal distills the links between environmentally sustainable development and poverty reduction and the achievement of the MDGs. PRS and the MDG on Environmental Sustainability: Opportunities for Alignment from the World Bank in 2003 notes that major efforts are needed to raise the level of attention to MDG 7 in the PRSPs. The 2005 UN Millennium Project, Preparing National Strategies to Achieve the MDGs: a handbook, provides an introduction to and resource for developing national MDG strategies.
Environmental and Sustainability Indicators and Indices Developing and Applying Poverty Environment Indicators, World Wildlife Fund 2004, focuses on the design and implementation of a poverty-environment information system. The National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy 2003 publication, Environment and Sustainable Development Indicator for Canada, includes a set of national indicators of natural and human capital. Environment at a Glance: 2006 OECD Environmental Indicators presents key environmental indicators endorsed by OECD Environment Ministers and major environmental indicators from the OECD Core Set. Additional information on OECD core indicators found in the 2004 Environmental Data Compendium. 2005 Environmental Sustainability Index and 2006 Environmental Performance Index—joint production of the Yale and Columbia University—tracks national environmental results on a quantitative basis, measuring proximity to an established set of policy targets using the best data available. The European Commission Eurostat Sustainable Development Indicators framework lists indicators on climate change and energy, consumption patterns, and natural resource management and transportation. GEO Year Book 2006 is UNEP’s third annual survey of the changing global environment produced and includes a core set of GEO indicators. IISD hosts information on sustainability indicators in its Global directory to indicator initiatives, Dashboard of Sustainability, and Consultative Group on Sustainable Development Indicators. Indicators of Environment and Sustainable Development: theories and practical experience from the World Bank in 2003 provides an overview the technical and practical aspects of the work on indicators, including experiences and lessons learnt. The World Bank produces an annual Little Green Data Book, a collection of information from the World Development Indicators and its accompanying CD-ROM. IISD and the European Commission Joint Research Centre's tool, The MDG Dashboard, is a free database with over 60 MDG indicators for ca. 200 countries and 15 years (1990-2005). In 2002, the World Bank Poverty-Environment Indicators identifies indicators that can be used to assess poverty-environment interactions in its The World Bank World Development Indicators 2006 lists more than 900 development indicators.
Global Footprint Network website provides practical applications and resources for promotion and understanding of the Ecological Footprint, including National Footprint Accounts. Good Practice in the Development of PRSP Indicators and Monitoring Systems by the Overseas Development Institute in 2002 includes experiences and examples to draw on for improving they way PRSPs handle monitoring and indicators. The 2004 UNDP/UNDG report, Improving Statistical Capacity and MDG Literacy at the Country Level, assists with improving data accessibility, statistical literacy and capacity, and evidence-based advocacy. Indicators for Monitoring the MDG: definitions, rational, concepts and sources, produced by the UNDG in 2003, includes definitions, rationale, method of computation, data collection and source, periodicity of measurement, gender issues and references for each of the MDGs. The Living Planet Reports are produced by WWF for periodic updates on the state of the world's ecosystems. The 2001 publication from The National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy, A Proposed Approach to Environment and Sustainable Development Indicators Based on Capital provides a framework for establishing sustainable development indicators centred on the concept of capital and focused on the economy as the object of sustainability.
Guidance Notes and Materials to Aid in Reporting Country level environmental analysis: a review of international experiences from the World Bank in 2003 reviews and catalogues key features of country-level environmental analytic tools. Globalis is an interactive map tool, which allows vital statistics, including those used in MDG reporting, to be visually displayed at the global, regional or national levels. The UNDP 2005 Human Development Report, International cooperation at a crossroads: aid, trade and security in an unequal world, provides a comprehensive analysis on how to resolve challenges related to development assistance, international trade, and security in making progress. The 2005 UN publication, Investing in Development: a practical plan to achieve the MDGs, outlines practical investment strategies and approaches to assist countries in achieving the MDGs. IIED’s 2003 The MDGs and Local Processes: Hitting the target or missing the point focuses on local processes that can deliver the MDGs with regard to poverty reduction and sustainable resource use. UNDP’s 2003 Reporting on the MDGs at the Country Level Guidance Note highlights the main issues that are likely to arise when preparing a country-level MDG report/review. The UNDG MDG Toolkit is a five-module approach to strengthen capacity within UN Country Teams, including a module on developing MDG statistical capacity.
UN Statistics Millennium Indicator Database links to global MDG framework indicators:
Other Global Environment Databases The World Resources Institute Earthtrends offers a comprehensive online collection of information regarding the environmental, social, and economic trends. FAO databases on fisheries, forests, and land use are available on Fishstat Plus, FAOSTAT, Global Forest Resources Assessment, State of the World’s Forests, and Global Terrestrial Observing System. GEMStat United Nations Global Environment Monitoring System (GEMS) Water Programme is a searchable database of global water quality data and statistics. UNEP GEO Data Portal is an online database of more than 450 different variables. Statistics on energy can be found on the International
Energy Agency’s statistical database website and includes
the World Energy Outlook,
a source for medium to long-term energy market projections and analysis.
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