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CHAPTER 8: GOAL 7—ENSURE ENVIRONMENTAL<br />
Introduction<br />
SUSTAINABILITY<br />
The 7 th Goal <strong>of</strong> the MDGs seeks <strong>to</strong> ensure<br />
environmental sustainability in development. This<br />
basically means that natural resources should be<br />
used for the benefit <strong>of</strong> the people while taking all<br />
measures <strong>to</strong> ensure that environmental pollution is<br />
reduced <strong>to</strong> acceptable limits.<br />
In pursuit <strong>of</strong> developmental objectives, nations<br />
engage in the depletion <strong>of</strong> natural resources, such<br />
as timber, solid minerals, oils and gas, either as<br />
industrial raw materials or for subsistence use.<br />
This depletion <strong>of</strong> natural resources comes at great<br />
costs as it has facilitated environmental<br />
degradation by increasing pollution <strong>of</strong> water<br />
sources, accelerating soil erosion and<br />
desertification (through removal <strong>of</strong> vegetation<br />
cover). The current cycle <strong>of</strong> global warming is<br />
largely attributable <strong>to</strong> human activities such as<br />
bush burning and the burning <strong>of</strong> fossil fuels.<br />
This Goal seeks <strong>to</strong> ensure that non-renewable<br />
resources are exploited with the needs <strong>of</strong> future<br />
generations in mind while renewable resources are<br />
exploited in such a way that the rates <strong>of</strong><br />
exploitation <strong>of</strong> these resources are not higher than<br />
their rates <strong>of</strong> regeneration. In both cases, the<br />
exploitations should be done with minimum<br />
damage <strong>to</strong> the environment.<br />
The Goal also seeks <strong>to</strong> ensure that man lives in an<br />
environmentally friendly habitat with access <strong>to</strong><br />
safe drinking water, adequate attention given <strong>to</strong><br />
basic sanitation and proper disposal <strong>of</strong> all wastes<br />
generated by human activities.<br />
Towards achieving this Goal, three broad targets,<br />
with specified benchmarks, have been set. These<br />
are: Target 9, integrating the principles <strong>of</strong><br />
sustainable development in<strong>to</strong> country’s policies<br />
and programmes and reversing the loss <strong>of</strong><br />
environmental resources; Target 10, which seeks<br />
<strong>to</strong> reduce <strong>to</strong> half, by 2015, the proportion <strong>of</strong> the<br />
population without sustainable access <strong>to</strong> safe<br />
drinking water and basic sanitation; and Target<br />
11, seeks <strong>to</strong> achieve a significant improvement in<br />
the lives <strong>of</strong> at least 100 million slum dwellers by<br />
the year 2020.<br />
Goal 7 Projects in 2009 Budget<br />
In an effort <strong>to</strong> improve the lives <strong>of</strong> slum dwellers<br />
(as enunciated under Target 11), Federal Ministry<br />
<strong>of</strong> Housing embarked on the construction <strong>of</strong> urban<br />
roads and drainages, market stalls, civic centres,<br />
<strong>to</strong>wn halls, water supply schemes and installation<br />
<strong>of</strong> solar-powered streetlights. In addition, both the<br />
Federal Ministries <strong>of</strong> Defence and Police Affairs<br />
have embarked on renovation <strong>of</strong> houses and other<br />
infrastructure in the barracks.<br />
As a complement <strong>to</strong> the various efforts being<br />
made by government MDAs as part <strong>of</strong> their<br />
statu<strong>to</strong>ry responsibilities, the OSSAP-MDGs has<br />
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