In the year 2000, global leaders gathered together to discuss the most important, pressing issues facing our globe. From HIV/AIDS and poverty to expanding primary education for all, this meeting established 8 goals and an ambitious deadline - 2015. The UN Millennium Project was established in 2002 in order to develop a concrete plan for achieving these lofty goals.
How do the Millennium Development Goals Address Biodiversity?
The 7th Goal as outlined by the plan, is to achieve environmental sustainability around the globe. There are four specific targets that pinpoint the most urgent actions that must be taken.
Target 1. "Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes and reverse the loss of environmental resources."
Target 2. "Reduce biodiversity loss, achieving, by 2010, a significant reduction in the rate of loss."
Target 3. "Halve, by 2015, the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation,"
Target 4. "By 2020, to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers."
These goals establish the important link between human life and biodiversity. Human health is contingent upon the health of our earth, and the loss of biodiversity is directly related to the degradation of resources. It wasn't until earlier this year, however, that the Goals made a collaborative effort with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), to monitor endangered and threatened species of plants and animals. The progress that is made toward achieving the biodiversity target will be monitored by calculating the proportion of species that are threatened by extinction - which is reflected within the IUCN Red List Index.
While the goals are in place, it's important that individual nations make significant and meaningful efforts to promote sustainability and conservation by establishing and enforcing environmental regulations. Education and economical health within the poor, developing nations is vital in achieving these goals.
For more on the UN Millennium Development Goals and its environmental targets, read this article.
Learn more about what designates an endangered species here.