Sustainable Pathways to Attain the Millennium Development Goals

The report assesses the environmental prerequisites for attaining the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), focusing on water for food, sustainable sanitation, and energy access. It argues that achieving MDG 1 (eradicating hunger) requires a 50% increase in freshwater use by 2015, which could lead to severe ecosystem trade-offs unless 'crop per drop' productivity improvements are implemented. In sanitation, the report advocates for ecological sanitation (ecosan) as a cost-effective alternative to conventional sewage systems, particularly for the growing urban target population. Regarding energy, it proposes an 'MDG Energy Vision' to provide basic clean cooking fuels and electricity to the poor, noting that the primary energy requirements for these goals are negligible compared to global consumption but essential for poverty reduction. The report estimates a total annual investment of USD 107 billion from 2005 to 2015 across these three sectors to meet MDG targets sustainably.

• To reach the MDG target of halving the proportion of undernourished by 2015, freshwater use in agriculture must increase by 50% globally, with requirements in countries like India, Kenya, and Nigeria increasing by 100%.
• Meeting the 2015 hunger target requires an estimated 2,200 km3/year of additional freshwater, with 85% of this volume needing to be supplied by rainfed agriculture.
• Implementing 'crop per drop' productivity improvements could save 350 km3/year of freshwater by 2015, reducing the remaining additional requirement to 1,600 km3/year.
• Even with productivity gains, meeting the 2015 hunger target may require converting 1.2 million km2 of forests, savannas, wetlands, and grasslands into agricultural land, representing a 4% increase in total agricultural area.
• The annual investment required to meet MDG targets for water and food, sustainable sanitation, and energy is estimated at USD 107 billion for the period 2005 to 2015.
• The sanitation target for 2015 involves providing services to 1.75 billion people, requiring approximately 95,000 household installations per day (65 per minute).
• Ecological sanitation (ecosan) is presented as a highly affordable alternative, with costs ranging from 0.1% to 0.3% of the domestic GDP of target countries.
• The urban sanitation challenge is significantly larger than the rural one, with an estimated annual global cost of USD 13 billion for urban areas compared to USD 0.7 billion for rural areas using ecosan solutions.
• Recycling nitrogen and phosphorus from human excreta for the MDG target population has a potential annual economic value of USD 2.91 billion.
• The 'MDG Energy Vision' requires an annual public financing of approximately USD 44.3 billion to provide basic clean cooking fuels, electricity, and mechanical power to the poor.
• The primary energy requirements to meet the MDG Energy Vision are negligible compared to global consumption, totaling about 900 TWh equivalent of energy.
• Transitioning from traditional biomass to modern fuels for cooking could reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by 1% to 10% due to the reduction of incomplete combustion by-products.

APA

Rockström, J., Axberg, G. N., Falkenmark, M., Lannerstad, M., Rosemarin, A., Caldwell, I., Arvidson, A., & Nordström, M. (2005). Sustainable Pathways to Attain the Millennium Development Goals. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Water-sanitation/sustainable_pathways_mdg.pdf

Chicago

Rockström, Johan, Göran Nilsson Axberg, Malin Falkenmark, Mats Lannerstad, Arno Rosemarin, Ian Caldwell, Anders Arvidson, and Mattias Nordström. Sustainable Pathways to Attain the Millennium Development Goals. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2005. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Water-sanitation/sustainable_pathways_mdg.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{rockstrm2005sustainable, author = {Rockström, Johan and Axberg, Göran Nilsson and Falkenmark, Malin and Lannerstad, Mats and Rosemarin, Arno and Caldwell, Ian and Arvidson, Anders and Nordström, Mattias}, title = {{Sustainable Pathways to Attain the Millennium Development Goals}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2005}, month = aug, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Water-sanitation/sustainable_pathways_mdg.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }