Ecosystems, Climate Change and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

The document argues that achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) requires rural development strategies that enhance the livelihoods of the poor while sustaining ecosystem services and increasing resilience to climate change. It emphasizes that success depends on local organizations and proposes a five-element action framework for scaling up local ecosystem-based initiatives: creating an enabling policy environment, building local capacity, ensuring equitable access to finance, facilitating knowledge sharing, and adopting a programmatic approach to scaling.

• Rural development strategies must be adjusted to sustain ecosystem services and increase economic, social, and ecological resilience to climate change to successfully attain the MDGs.
• Local organizations are essential for the success and sustainability of environment and development initiatives, as poverty reduction and climate interventions must be rooted in local perspectives and capabilities.
• Ecosystem decline and climate change threaten the household economies of the rural poor, as ecosystem services often constitute a substantial part of their income.
• Scaling up local ecosystem-based initiatives requires a combination of local resource channeling and capacity building, supported by higher-level institutional and policy reforms.
• A proposed action framework for scaling up local initiatives consists of five elements: an enabling policy environment (secure resource rights and market access), local capacity building, equitable access to finance, knowledge sharing, and a programmatic approach involving government, NGOs, and the private sector.

APA

World Resources Institute (2010). Ecosystems, Climate Change and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). https://www.wri.org/research/ecosystems-climate-change-and-millennium-development-goals-mdgs

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Ecosystems, Climate Change and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). 2010. https://www.wri.org/research/ecosystems-climate-change-and-millennium-development-goals-mdgs.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Ecosystems, Climate Change and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) |date=September 2010 |url=https://www.wri.org/research/ecosystems-climate-change-and-millennium-development-goals-mdgs |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitute2010ecosystems, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Ecosystems, Climate Change and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2010}, month = sep, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/ecosystems-climate-change-and-millennium-development-goals-mdgs}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }