Millennium Development Goals and the Environment

This fact sheet provides a progress update on Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 7, 'Ensuring Environmental Sustainability', detailing global trends in forest loss, carbon emissions, water stress, ozone depletion, biodiversity, and urban slum conditions.

• Regarding Target 7.A, global forest area decreased from 32% to 31% between 1990 and 2010, resulting in a total forest loss of 135 million hectares. During the same period, global carbon dioxide emissions increased from 21,550 to 31,387 million tonnes per year.
• Environmental indicators for Target 7.A show that 30% of the global population experiences water stress, with 9.2% of total water resources used in 2006. While 98% of ozone-depleting substances have been phased out, 29% of 600 monitored marine fish stocks were exploited beyond safe biological limits in 2009.
• Progress on biodiversity (Target 7.B) included an 8.3% to 14% increase in terrestrial and marine protected areas between 1990 and 2012, though 7.9% to 8.7% of species are expected to become extinct in the near future. For Target 7.C, 89% of the population used an improved drinking water source in 2011, and 56% used an improved sanitation facility in 2010. Regarding Target 7.D, 863 million people live in slums; in Africa, 70% of the people still live in slums, with only an 8.3% improvement observed.

APA

International Institute for Sustainable Development (n.d.). Millennium Development Goals and the Environment. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/mdg-7-progress-update-infographic.pdf

Chicago

International Institute for Sustainable Development. Millennium Development Goals and the Environment. n.d. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/mdg-7-progress-update-infographic.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=International Institute for Sustainable Development |title=Millennium Development Goals and the Environment |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/mdg-7-progress-update-infographic.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{internationalinstituteforsustainabledevelopmentndmillennium, author = {{International Institute for Sustainable Development}}, title = {{Millennium Development Goals and the Environment}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/mdg-7-progress-update-infographic.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }