Millennium Development Goal 7 is the most far-reaching, affecting
each person now and in the future. It addresses the condition of
the natural and built environments: reversing the loss of natural
resources, preserving biodiversity, increasing access to safe water
and sanitation, and improving living conditions of people in slums.
The overall theme is sustainability, improving people’s lives without
depleting natural and humanmade capital stocks.
Failure to reach a comprehensive agreement on limiting greenhouse
gas emissions leaves billions of people vulnerable to climate
change, with the effects expected to hit hardest in developing countries.
Higher temperatures, changes in precipitation patterns, rising
sea levels, and more frequent weather-related disasters pose
risks for agriculture, food, and water supplies. The world released
33.6 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2010, up 5 percent
over 2009 and a considerable rise of 51 percent since 1990—the
baseline for Kyoto Protocol requirements (figure 7a). Global emissions
in 2013 are estimated at an unprecedented 36 billion tons,
with a growth rate of 2 percent, slightly lower than the historical
average of 3 percent since 2000.
The Millennium Development Goals call for halving the proportion
of people without access to an improved water source and
sanitation facilities by 2015. In 1990 almost 1.3 billion people
worldwide lacked access to drinking water from a convenient,
protected source. By 2012 that had improved to 752 million
people—a 41 percent reduction. In developing countries the proportion
of people with access to an improved water source rose
from 70 percent in 1990 to 87 percent in 2012. However, almost
27 percent of countries are seriously off track toward meeting
the water target (figure 7b). In 1990 only 35 percent of the
people living in low- and middle-income economies had access
to a flush toilet or other form of improved sanitation. By 2012
the access rate had risen to 57 percent. But 2.5 billion people
still lack access to improved sanitation. The situation is worse
in rural areas, where 43 percent of the population has access to
improved sanitation, compared with 73 percent in urban areas.
This large disparity, especially in Sub-Saharan
Africa and South
Asia, is the main reason the sanitation target is unlikely to be
met on time (figure 7c).