Goal 7. Ensure environmental sustainability


Goal 7aims to ensure environmental sustainability and involves three targets:

  • integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies in order to advance in reversing the loss of environmental resources;
  • halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and sanitation;
  • by 2020, to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers.

    Goal 7 follows upon environmental commitments such as sustainable development and sustainable forest management, made by countries through the adoption of Agenda 21 and "the forest principles", during the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992.

    FAO¿s Forest Resources Development Service (FORM) is directly involved in the achievement of Goal 7 through different activities:

  • It provides the indicator designated to measure the advancement of Goal 7, from 1990 to 2015, related to the proportion of land area covered by forests. In fact, FORM is the FAO¿s service in charge of carrying out periodical Forest Resources Assessments(FRA)and therefore collect, analyse and disseminate reliable and timely information on forest resources worldwide.

  • On the one hand, the Forest Resources Assessment reports on the multiple functions and uses of forests according to the thematic areas ofcriteria and indicators for sustainable forest management (SFM). On the other, the Forest Resources Development Service (FORM) facilitates dialogue, harmonization and use of criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management at the national, sub-regional, and regional levels.

  • Finally, the Forest Resources Development Service supports member countries in carrying out national forest assessments in order to enable appropriate policy-making and sustainable management of trees and forests.
    • last updated:  Tuesday, February 22, 2005