Sustainable Pathways to Attain the Millennium Development Goals

This report by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) argues that achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) requires the integration of environmentally sustainable strategies across all goals, specifically focusing on freshwater, energy, and sanitation. The study identifies significant gaps in current MDG planning, particularly regarding the water requirements for food production and the need for innovative sanitation solutions. It estimates that an annual investment of USD 107 billion is required between 2005 and 2015 to meet targets for water, food, sanitation, and energy using sustainable pathways.

• To reach the MDG target of halving the proportion of undernourished people by 2015, freshwater use in agriculture must increase by 50%, requiring an additional 2,200 km3/year. In high-growth, high-hunger countries like India, Kenya, and Nigeria, this required increase reaches 100% by 2015.
• Rainfed agriculture is expected to provide 85% of the water needed for food over the next decade. To avoid excessive encroachment on natural ecosystems, the report suggests that up to 1,000 km3/year of the remaining 1,600 km3/year required for food could be captured on existing agricultural land through improved rainwater management.
• Implementing 'crop per drop' improvements—increasing agricultural productivity to reduce non-productive evaporation—could save 350 km3/year by 2015. By 2050, these productivity gains could reduce the dietary water requirement from 1,300 m3 per person per year to 1,000 m3.
• The report estimates that annual investments of USD 47 billion are needed for water and food, USD 15 billion for sustainable sanitation, and USD 45 billion for energy and environment, totaling approximately USD 107 billion annually from 2005 to 2015.
• To meet the 2015 sanitation targets, approximately 95,000 households per day (65 per minute) must be provided with services, totaling 193 million rural and 256 million urban households.
• The 'MDG Energy Vision' targets for 2015 include 100% urban access to modern cooking fuels and electricity, 50% rural access to modern cooking fuels, and electricity for all schools and health facilities. The total annual public financing required to achieve this vision is approximately USD 45 billion.
• The primary energy requirements to meet the MDG Energy Vision are negligible compared to global consumption, totaling about 900 TWh annually. Transitioning from traditional biomass to modern fuels is expected to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by 1-10% and prevent 1.6 million deaths annually from indoor air pollution.
• The report concludes that MDG 7 (Environmental Sustainability) is not an isolated goal but a prerequisite for all other MDGs. Failure to integrate sustainability into the other goals risks undermining long-term poverty reduction and increasing vulnerability to climate-driven shocks like droughts and floods.

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} }