DEVELOPMENT

AND ENVIRONMENT


MEANING OF DEVELOPMENT:

Old view of development-

The old view of development was limited to economic advancement. Human capital formation
was not a focus in policymaking. Development was measured by the following indicators-
• In strictly economic terms, development traditionally meant a sustained annual
increase in GDP at rates varying from 5% to 7% or more.
• A common alternative economic index for development is rate of growth of per capita
GNP i.e the ability to expand output at a rate faster than the growth of population. Per
capita GNP is GNP divided by population. Real Per capita GNP measures overall
economic well being of a population. It measures monetary growth of GNP per capita
minus rate of inflation.

This view of development was rejected in 1970s due to its one-dimensional concerns. It was
replaced by a multi-dimensional measure of development.

Economic growth versus economic development:

Till 1960s, economic growth and development were used synonymously. Economic growth
was measured by the rise in per capita GNP in real terms.

Now, economic development is measured by changes in technology, institutional organization
and distributive pattern of income. Thus, economic development is a broader concept than
economic growth. The process of development involves rise in output, changes in composition
of output (from agriculture to industry to services) as well as shift in allocation of productive
resources to ensure social justice.

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While there can be growth without development, development without growth is

inconceivable. A substantial rise in a country’s GNP is required before it can expand its
industries and service sector.


New view of development-

During 1950s and 1960s, while many third world countries did realize economic growth
targets, the levels of living of the masses remained unchanged or even declined.

The narrow definition of development was then rejected and replaced with a multidimensional
idea of development.

Kindleberger argued that development is defined as:
• Improvements in material welfare for persons with lowest incomes
• Eradication of mass poverty and illiteracy
• Shift of production away from agriculture towards industrial activities
• Productive employment among working age population
• Greater participation of people in governance

Dudley seers gave a similar classification for understanding development. He posed three basic
questions on development:
• What is happening to poverty?
• What is happening to unemployment?
• What is happening to inequality?

If all three have declined, then beyond doubt this is a period of development. If one or more of
them have increased, then we can hardly call it development, irrespective of increase in per
capita income.

Many developing countries experienced high per capita growth in 1960s and 1970s but little
improvement or even decline in employment, poverty and inequality.

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Development as a Multi-dimensional approach:

Development is now conceived from many directions. Three core value for development are-
sustenance, self-esteem and freedom. All three relate to fundamental human needs that
need to be fulfilled in almost all societies.

Sustenance- sustenance includes food, shelter, health and protection. When any one of these is
absent or in short supply, a condition of underdevelopment exists.

Self-esteem- self esteem means a sense of worth and self respect. It is the feeling of not being
used as a tool by others for their own ends.

Freedom to choose- Wealth increases range of human choice. Dreze and Sen also pointed out
the importance of freedom to choose in their “Capabilities Approach”. According to capabilities
approach, development is defined in terms of real freedoms that citizens enjoy to pursue the
objectives that they have reason to value.

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Human development:

The concept of human development was created by Mahbub-ul-haq and Amartya Sen as “a
process of enlarging people’s choices”. The first human development report was published by
United Nations Development Programme to focus on people as the centre of development.

Human Development Index (HDI) is developed and used in human development reports to
compare countries in the world. The index includes 3 important elements-
• Life expectancy at birth
• Education- mean years of schooling and expected years of schooling
• Real GNI per capita

HDI includes both economic and social indicators and that is what differentiates it from other
similar indices on development.

In terms of HDI, countries are classified into 3 groups:
• High human development countries- HDI values of 0.800 and above
• Medium human development countries- HDI values of 0.500- 0.799
• Low human development countries- HDI value below 0.500

2015 marks 25 years since the first Human Development Report introduced a new approach
for advancing human wellbeing. Human development – or the human development approach -
is about expanding the richness of human life, rather than simply the richness of the economy
in which human beings live. It is an approach that is focused on people and their opportunities
and choices.

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Human development report 2015- (theme- work for human development)
• Human development report defines sustainable work as work that promotes human
development while ensuring sustainability. It is critical for sustaining the planet as well
as ensuring work for future generations.
• From a human development perspective, the notion of work is broader and deeper than
that of jobs or employment alone. The jobs framework fails to capture many kinds of
works that are important to human development- such as unpaid care work, voluntary
work and creative work. Work enhances human development, but some work also
damages human development and puts workers at risk:
o Work can be negative in the form of forced labour, child labour, human
trafficking etc.
• Global Trade and Penetration of Digital services in the world-

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• In 2015, 72% of working age men were employed, compared with 47% of women.
Employment rates for women are heavily affected by economic, social and cultural
issues. Total hours worked in time-use survey pointed out that women contribute 52%
of global work, compared with men’s 48%. Even though women carry out the major
share of global work, they face disadvantage both in paid and unpaid work.

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• Sustainable Development Goals and Sustainable Work:

Inequality adjusted Human Development Index- (IHDI)
HDI represents a national average of human development achievements in 3 basic dimensions-
a long and healthy life, knowledge and a decent standard of living. HDI fails to cover disparities
in human development across the population within the same country. IHDI considers how
achievements of a country on health, education and income are distributed among its
population.

India’s performance in HDI:
India has been catching up with rich countries in Income but not in health or education.
The gap between India and rich countries continues to rise even after economic reforms
started in 1990s. While the income gap between India and OECD countries has been narrowing
since 1980s, it is widening in health and education.
In 1950, India and China were at the same level of human development with identical
indicators in health, education and income. HDI data shows that china improved at a
compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3% while India grew at CAGR of 2%. Initially,
china’s outperformance was in life expectancy and education. India was ahead of china in
income scores till 1980s. After 1980s, china has outperformed India in income as well as health
and education owing its investment in human development indicators before 1980s.

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• As can be seen through the first graph, India outperformed china in Income indicator till
1990s but China overtook India due to its heavy investment in human capital indicators,
as visible in second graph.
• Scores for India as per 2015 HDR- (India lies in Middle Human Development) (the data
will be updated on release of latest HDR)
o HDI- 0.609 (Kerala stands first with 0.7117)
o Inequality adjusted HDI- 0.435
o Gross National Income per capita- $5497
o Expected Years of Schooling- 11.697 years (male-11.8 years, female- 11.3 years)

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o Mean years of schooling- 5.4 years (male- 7.2 years, female- 3.6 years)
o Life expectancy- 68
o Gender development Index- 0.795
o Gender Inequality Index- 0.563
o Population breakup in India:
§ Under 5 years of age- 122 million
§ Between 15-64 years- 835 million
§ 65 and older- 67.9 million
§ Median age in India- 26.9 years

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Sustainable development:

• When increase in GNP is brought about through depletion of resources under unhealthy
environmental conditions by the present generation, the future generation is left with
depleted resources to produce output, adversely affecting their health and efficiency.
Such a growth model is termed as unsustainable. Sustainable development is a model of
development focusing on inter and intra generational equity- enabling all generations,
present and future, to make best use of their potential capabilities.
• Sustainable development is pro-people, pro-jobs and pro- nature.
• In 1980 the International Union for the Conservation of Nature published a world
conservation strategy that included one of the first references to sustainable
development as a global priority and introduced the term "sustainable development".
• Two years later, the United Nations World Charter for Nature raised five principles
of conservation by which human conduct affecting nature is to be guided and judged.
• In 1987 the United Nations World Commission on Environment and
Development released the report Our Common Future, commonly called the
Brundtland Report. The report included what is now one of the most widely
recognised definitions of sustainable development.

Definition:

• Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It contains within
it two key concepts:
o The concept of 'needs', in particular, the essential needs of the world's poor, to which
overriding priority should be given; and
o The idea of limitations imposed by technology and social organization on the environment's
ability to meet present and future needs.

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• In 1992, the UN Conference on Environment and Development published the Earth

Charter, which outlines the building of a just, sustainable, and peaceful global society in
the 21st century.
• The action plan was called as Agenda 21. Agenda 21 for sustainable development
identified information, integration, and participation as key building blocks to help
countries achieve development that recognizes these interdependent pillars.
• In the year 2000, millennium development goals were adopted. The Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) were eight international development goals for the year
2015 that had been established following the Millennium Summit of the United
Nations in 2000, following the adoption of the United Nations Millennium
Declaration. These goals were to be achieved by 2015.
• After expiry of MDGs, in September 2015, the United Nations General Assembly
formally adopted the "universal, integrated and transformative" 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development, a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The goals
are to be implemented and achieved in every country from the year 2016 to 2030.


Environment and development:

• The world community is experiencing environmental unsustainability due to over-
emphasis on growth.
• Un-checked economic growth has resulted in deterioration of factors like marginal land,
water, air quality, food quality etc. The impact of deterioration in all these factors is
experienced most by the lower-income groups or the poor. Thus, environment
unfriendly economic growth is affecting the poor the most and in turn affecting
“development” as we see it today.

• Achieving environmentally sustainable growth is thus synonymous with economic
development because it involves taking care of the most vulnerable groups among us.

• To achieve environmentally sustainable growth, it is important to include costs of
environment in calculation of GNP/GDP. Damages to soil, water supplies, forests, air etc
resulting from unsustainable methods of production can greatly reduce long term

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national productivity but will have a positive impact on current GNP figures. Therefore,
it is essential to include the long-term negative affects of growth on environment to
create a more sustainable model of growth.


Environment as one of three pillars of Sustainable development:

• At the core of sustainable development is the need to consider “three pillars” together-
society, economy and environment. We may be able to ignore the environment for a few
years or decades, but we cannot ignore it forever due to our dependence over the
environment for survival. We failed to understand the inter-dependence for centuries
but realized it in 1980s and started the process of environmentally sustainable
development.

Population and environment:
• Rapidly growing populations have led to land, water and fuelwood shortages in rural
areas and also urban health crisis from lack of sanitation and clean water. If rising
population rate is more than rise in GNP and food production, per capita levels of
sufficiency will fall. Therefore, it is important to control rise in population rate in order
to limit the pressure on productivity of land and resources.

Poverty and Environment:
• Poverty, landlessness, lack of credit and inputs and absence of information often
prevent the poor from making rational and environment friendly decisions and
preserve the assets from which they derive their livelihood. Fighting poverty has a
direct and positive impact over safeguarding the environment. For example, Jhum
cultivation in north-eastern parts of India destroys environment and land, but due to
lack of awareness among the local farmers, it is still carried on year after year.

Urban Development and Environment:
• Congestion, vehicular and industrial emissions and poorly ventilated household stoves
inflate the tremendously high environmental costs of urban crowding. Research reveals

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that urban environment is deteriorating faster than urban population size, so marginal
cost of additional residents is rising over time.

Impacts of unsustainable growth:

• Agricultural Productivity- climate change scenario points to large losses in productivity
for food linked to drought and rainfall variation in parts of sub-saharan Africa and south
and east asia. Through its impact on agriculture and food security, climate change could
leave an additional 600 million facing malnutrition by 2080s.

• Water insecurity- accelerated glacial melting in Himalayas will increase floods initially
and ultimately reduce flow of water to major river systems vital for irrigation. In Latin
America, accelerated melting of tropical glaciers will threaten water supply for urban
population, hydroelectricity generation and agriculture.

• Extreme weather conditions- Climate change will bring extreme events like droughts
and floods. Warmer seas will fuel more violent tropical cyclones. Coastal flooding will
also increase due to rising sea levels and more tropical storms.


According to Amartya Sen, development cannot be divorced from ecological and
environmental concerns. Important components of human freedoms are thoroughly dependent
over the environment. Development has to be environment inclusive for Human development
to take place in true sense.


Rio Earth Summit and UNFCCC:

• The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is

an international environmental treaty negotiated at the Earth Summit in Rio de
Janeiro in June 1992, then entered into force in 1994.

• The UNFCCC objective is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere.

The framework set no binding limits on greenhouse gas emissions for individual

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countries and contains no enforcement mechanisms. Instead, the framework outlines

how specific international treaties (called "protocols" or "Agreements") may be
negotiated to set binding limits on greenhouse gases.

• UNFCCC has 197 parties as of December 2015. The convention enjoys broad legitimacy,
largely due to its nearly universal membership.

• The parties to the convention have met annually from 1995 in Conferences of the
Parties (COP) to assess progress in dealing with climate change. In 1997, the Kyoto
Protocol was concluded and established legally binding obligations for developed
countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in the period 2008-2012. The
2010 Cancún agreements state that future global warming should be limited to below 2
°C (3.6 °F) relative to the pre-industrial level. The Protocol was amended in 2012 to
encompass the period 2013-2020 in the Doha Amendment, which as of December 2015
has not entered into force. In 2015 the Paris Agreement was adopted, governing
emission reductions from 2020 on through commitments of countries in ambitious
Intended Nationally Determined Contributions.

Classification of Parties under UNFCCC and their commitments:

Parties to the UNFCCC are classified as:

• Annex I: There are 43 Parties to the UNFCCC listed in Annex I of the Convention, including
the European Union. These Parties are classified as industrialized (developed)
countries and "economies in transition" (EITs). The 14 EITs are the former centrally-
planned (Soviet) economies of Russia and Eastern Europe.
• Annex II: Of the Parties listed in Annex I of the Convention, 24 are also listed in Annex II of
the Convention, including the European Union. These Parties are made up of members of
the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Annex II Parties are
required to provide financial and technical support to the EITs and developing countries to
assist them in reducing their greenhouse gas emissions (climate change mitigation)
and manage the impacts of climate change (climate change adaptation).
• Least-developed countries (LDCs): 49 Parties are LDCs, and are given special status
under the treaty in view of their limited capacity to adapt to the effects of climate change.

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• Non-Annex I: Parties to the UNFCCC not listed in Annex I of the Convention are mostly
low-income developing countries. Developing countries may volunteer to become Annex I
countries when they are sufficiently developed.


Sustainable development goals 2016-2030:

• The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), officially known as Transforming our
world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, are an intergovernmental set
of aspiration Goals with 169 targets. The Resolution is a broader intergovernmental
agreement that acts as Post 2015 Development Agenda (successor to the Millennium
Development Goals), popularly known as The Future We Want.
• The proposal contained 17 goals with 169 targets covering a broad range of sustainable
development issues. These included ending poverty and hunger, improving health and
education, making cities more sustainable, combating climate change, and protecting
oceans and forests.

GOALS:

1. No Poverty - End poverty in all its forms everywhere

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• By 2030, eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere, currently

measured as people living on less than $1.25 a day. Globally, the number of people
living in extreme poverty has declined by more than half from 1.9 billion in 1990.
However, 836 million people still live in extreme poverty. About one in five persons
in developing regions lives on less than $1.25 per day.
• By 2030, reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all
ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions
• One in four children under age five in the world has inadequate height for his or her
age.
• The all India Poverty Head Count Ratio (PHCR) has been brought down from 47% in
1990 to 21% in 2011-2012, nearly halved.

2. Zero Hunger - End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and
promote sustainable agriculture

• By 2030, end hunger and ensure access by all people, in particular the poor and
people in vulnerable situations, including infants, to safe, nutritious and sufficient
food all year round
• By 2030, end all forms of malnutrition
• By 2030, double the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food
producers
• By 2030, ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient
agricultural practices
• By 2020, maintain the genetic diversity of seeds, cultivated plants and farmed and
domesticated animals
• Globally, the proportion of undernourished people in the developing regions has
fallen by almost half since 1990, from 23.3% in 1990-1992 to 12.9% in 2014-
2016. However, one in nine people in the world today (795 million) are still
undernourished.
• Sub-Saharan Africa is the region with the highest prevalence (percentage of
population) of hunger. About one person in four there is undernourished.

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• Agriculture is the single largest employer in the world, providing livelihoods for
40% of today’s global population. It is the largest source of income and jobs for poor
rural households.
• In 1990, 53% of all Indian children were malnourished. In 2015, malnourishment
declined to 40%.

3. Good Health and Well-being - Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at
all ages.

• By 2030, reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000
live births
• By 2030, end preventable deaths of newborns and children under 5 years of age,
with all countries aiming to reduce neonatal mortality to at least as low as 12
per 1,000 live births and under-5 mortality to at least as low as 25 per 1,000
live births
• By 2020, halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic
accidents
• By 2030, ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services.
• By 2030, substantially reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous
chemicals and air, water and soil pollution and contamination
• Prevalence of HIV/AIDS in India:

a) By 2014, there were 13.6 million people accessing antiretroviral therapy, an

increase from just 800,000 in 2003.
b) New HIV infections in 2013 were estimated at 2.1 million, which was 38%
lower than in 2001.
c) At the end of 2013, there were an estimated 35 million people living with
HIV.
d) At the end of 2013, 240,000 children were newly infected with HIV.
e) India has made significant strides in reducing the prevalence of HIV and AIDS
across different types of high-risk categories. Adult prevalence has come
down from 0.45 percent in 2002 to 0.27 in 2011.

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4. Quality Education - Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and

promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.

• Various general targets for Primary, secondary and vocational education to be

achieved by 2030
• India has made significant progress in universalizing primary education. Enrolment
and completion rates of girls in primary school have improved as are elementary
completion rates. The net enrolment ratio in primary education (for both sexes) is
88%(2013-14).

5. Gender Equality - Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
• As of August 2015, in India the proportion of seats in National Parliament held by
women is only 12% against the target of 50%.
• India is on track to achieve gender parity at all education levels, having already
achieved it at the primary level. The ratio of female literacy to male literacy for 15-
24 year olds is 0.91.

6. Clean Water and Sanitation - Ensure availability and sustainable management of

water and sanitation for all.

• By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable

drinking water for all
• By 2030, achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all
• Improve water quality
• Increase water use efficiency
• Restore water ecosystems
• In 2015, 91% of the global population is using an improved drinking water source
• Approximately 70% of all available water is used for irrigation.

7. Affordable and Clean Energy - Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable

and clean energy for all.

• 1.3 billion people – one in five globally – still lack access to modern electricity.
• By 2030, ensure universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy services

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• By 2030, increase substantially the share of renewable energy in the global energy
mix
• By 2030, double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency
• By 2030, enhance international cooperation to facilitate access to clean energy
research and technology and promote investment in energy infrastructure and
clean energy technology
• By 2030, expand infrastructure and upgrade technology for supplying modern and
sustainable energy services for all in developing countries.

8. Decent Work and Economic Growth - Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable
economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.

• Sustain per capita economic growth in accordance with national circumstances and,
in particular, at least 7 per cent gross domestic product growth per annum in
the least developed countries
• 470 million jobs are needed globally for new entrants to the labour market between
2016 and 2030.
• Nearly 2.2 billion people live below the US$2 poverty line and poverty eradication is
only possible through stable and well-paid jobs.

9. Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure - Build resilient infrastructure, promote

inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation.

• By 2030, upgrade infrastructure and retrofit industries to make them sustainable,

with increased resource-use efficiency and greater adoption of clean and
environmentally sound technologies and industrial processes, with all countries
taking action in accordance with their respective capabilities
• Significantly increase access to information and communications technology and
strive to provide universal and affordable access to the Internet in least developed
countries by 2020

10. Reduced Inequalities - Reduce inequality within and among countries

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• On average – and taking into account population size – income inequality increased
by 11% in developing countries between 1990 and 2010.
• The Gini Coefficient of income inequality for India has risen from 33.4% in 2004 to
33.6% in 2011.
• By 2030, progressively achieve and sustain income growth of the bottom 40 per
cent of the population at a rate higher than the national average
• By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all
• By 2030, reduce to less than 3 per cent the transaction costs of migrant remittances
and eliminate remittance corridors with costs higher than 5 per cent

1.
11. Sustainable Cities and Communities - Make cities and human settlements inclusive,
safe, resilient and sustainable

• Half of humanity – 3.5 billion people – lives in cities today. By 2030, almost 60% of
the world’s population will live in urban areas.
• Cities have the potential to either dissipate the distribution of energy or optimise
their efficiency by reducing energy consumption and adopting green – energy
systems. For instance, Rizhao, China has turned itself into a solar – powered city; in
its central districts, 99% of households already use solar water heaters.
• By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic
services and upgrade slums
• By 2030, provide access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport
systems for all
• By 2030, enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanization and capacity for
participatory, integrated and sustainable human settlement planning and
management in all countries
• By 2030, significantly reduce the number of deaths and the number of people
affected and substantially decrease the direct economic losses relative to global
gross domestic product caused by disasters, including water-related disasters, with
a focus on protecting the poor and people in vulnerable situations
• By 2030, reduce the adverse per capita environmental impact of cities, including by
paying special attention to air quality and municipal and other waste management

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• By 2030, provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public
spaces, in particular for women and children, older persons and persons with
disabilities
• By 2020, substantially increase the number of cities and human settlements
adopting and implementing integrated policies and plans towards inclusion,
resource efficiency, mitigation and adaptation to climate change, resilience to
disasters, and develop and implement, in line with the Sendai Framework for
Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, holistic disaster risk management at all levels

12. Responsible Consumption and Production - Ensure sustainable consumption and

production patterns

• India is the fourth largest GHG emitter, responsible for 5.3% of global emissions.
India has committed to reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP by 20 to 25% by
2020 and by 33-35% by 2030.
• By 2030, halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and
reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest
losses

13. Climate Action - Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

• Implement the commitment undertaken by developed-country parties to the United

Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to a goal of mobilizing jointly
$100 billion annually by 2020 from all sources to address the needs of developing
countries in the context of meaningful mitigation actions and transparency on
implementation and fully operationalize the Green Climate Fund through its
capitalization as soon as possible

14. Life Below Water – Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine
resources for sustainable development

• Oceans cover three-quarters of the Earth’s surface, contain 97% of the Earth’s
water, and represent 99% of the living space on the planet by volume.

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• Oceans absorb about 30% of carbon dioxide produced by humans, buffering the
impacts of global warming.
• Oceans serve as the world’s largest source of protein, with more than 3 billion
people depending on the oceans as their primary source.
• By 2020, effectively regulate harvesting and end overfishing, illegal, unreported and
unregulated fishing and destructive fishing practices and implement science-based
management plans, in order to restore fish stocks in the shortest time feasible, at
least to levels that can produce maximum sustainable yield as determined by their
biological characteristics
• By 2020, conserve at least 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas
• By 2020, prohibit certain forms of fisheries subsidies which contribute to
overcapacity and overfishing
• By 2020, sustainably manage and protect marine and coastal ecosystems to avoid
significant adverse impacts, including by strengthening their resilience
• By 2025, prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, in particular
from land-based activities, including marine debris and nutrient pollution
• By 2030, increase the economic benefits to Small Island developing States and least
developed countries from the sustainable use of marine resources, including
through sustainable management of fisheries, aquaculture and tourism
15. Life on Land - Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems,
sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land
degradation and halt biodiversity loss
• Forest cover in India has increased to 21.23% - an increase of 5871 sq. km, and
protected areas cover to about 4.8% of the country’s total land area.
• India has 8% of the world’s biodiversity with many species that are not found
anywhere else in the world.
• By 2020, introduce measures to prevent the introduction and significantly reduce
the impact of invasive alien species on land and water ecosystems and control or
eradicate the priority species
• By 2020, integrate ecosystem and biodiversity values into national and local
planning, development processes, poverty reduction strategies and accounts

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• By 2020, ensure the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of terrestrial and
inland freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular forests, wetlands,
mountains and drylands, in line with obligations under international agreements
• By 2020, promote the implementation of sustainable management of all types of
forests, halt deforestation, restore degraded forests and substantially increase
afforestation and reforestation globally
• By 2030, combat desertification, restore degraded land and soil, including land
affected by desertification, drought and floods, and strive to achieve a land
degradation-neutral world
• By 2030, ensure the conservation of mountain ecosystems, including their
biodiversity, in order to enhance their capacity to provide benefits that are essential
for sustainable development

16. Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions - Promote peaceful and inclusive societies
for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective,
accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

• By 2030, significantly reduce illicit financial and arms flows, strengthen the
recovery and return of stolen assets and combat all forms of organized crime
• By 2030, provide legal identity for all, including birth registration

17. Partnerships for the Goals - Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize
the global partnership for sustainable development




Other Environmental Pacts/ Agreements:
1. Montreal Protocol on Ozone Protection
2. Convention on Biological Diversity
3. UNFCCC- covered above
4. Convention to combat desertification

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5. Ramsar Convention
6. Bonn Convention

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