Ensure Environmental Stability
Ensuring environmental stability is the 7th goal that the United Nations wants to accomplish. There are 4 different sections: Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes and reverse the loss of environmental resources; Reduce biodiversity loss, achieving, by 2010, a significant reduction in the rate of loss; Halve, by 2015, the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation, and achieve, by 2020, a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers.
The first target 7.A for ensuring environmental stability was saving trees and reverse depletion of the ozone layer. Over the past few years trees have been disappearing at alarming rates due to deforestation. Out of all the developing regions South America and Africa have seen the most net loss of trees from 2000 to 2010. 25 years since the adoption of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, there has been a reduction of over 98 per cent in the consumption of ozone-depleting substances. Global emissions of CO2 have increased about 50% since 1990. World leaders also approved an act “The Future We Want” and pleaded over half a trillion dollars towards sustainable development initiatives.
Target 7.B focuses on protecting Earth’s biodivers land and oceans. Since 1990 protected areas have increased by almost 60%. Not all protected areas are key biodiverse sites. By 2010 12.7% of the world’s land is protected, but only 1.6% of the world’s oceans are protected.
Target 7.C is devoted to sanitation. The world has halved the portion of people without access to sanitary water 5 years ahead of schedule. Between the years 1990 and 2010 more than 2 billion people have gained access to cleaner water. The portion of people using clean water increased almost 80% in the 90’s, and almost 90% in 2010. Over 40% of the people with unsanitary water live in sub-Saharan Africa. As of 2011 768 million people still went without improved water. Despite progress 2.5 billion people in developing countries don’t have access to improved sanitation facilities.
Target 7.D talks about keeping people from living in poor conditions in developing countries. Urban slum residents in the developing world dropped 6% in 12 years. It is a slow process, but the UN hopes to complete this task by 2020. Over 200 million of these people gained access to improved water sources, improved sanitation facilities, or durable or less crowded housing.
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