World Development Indicators 2013 - Open Knowledge Repository ...

Goal 7 Ensure environmental sustainabilityCarbon dioxide emissionsdropped slightly in 2009Carbon dioxide emissions (millions of metric tons)4030201001990Forest losses7band gainsAverage annual change in forest area (thousands of squarekilometers)2500–250–500Better access toimproved water sourcesShare of population with access to improved water sources (%)1007550250East Asia& Pacific19902010East Asia& Pacific1995Europe& CentralAsiaEurope& CentralAsia1990–20002000–10LatinAmerica &CaribbeanLatinAmerica &CaribbeanLower middle income2000Middle East& NorthAfricaSouthAsiaMiddle East& NorthAfricaUpper middle income2005Source: Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center and WorldDevelopment Indicators database.Sub-Saharan HighAfrica incomeSource: Food and Agriculture Organization and World DevelopmentIndicators database.SouthAsiaHigh incomeLow income7cSub-SaharanAfricaSource: Joint Monitoring Programme of the World Health Organizationand United Nations Children’s Fund and World Development Indicatorsdatabase.7a2009The seventh goal of the Millennium DevelopmentGoals is the most far-reaching, affecting eachperson now and in the future. It addresses thecondition of the natural and built environments:reversing the loss of natural resources, preservingbiodiversity, increasing access to safewater and sanitation, and improving living conditionsof people in slums. The overall theme issustainability, an equilibrium in which people’slives can improve without depleting natural andmanmade capital stocks.The failure to reach a comprehensive agreementon limiting greenhouse gas emissions leavesbillions of people vulnerable to climate change.Although the global financial crisis caused a slightdecrease in carbon dioxide emissions, such emissionsare expected to rise as economic activityresumes in large industrial economies (figure 7a).The loss of forests threatens the livelihood ofpoor people, destroys the habitat that harbors biodiversity,and eliminates an important carbon sinkthat helps moderate the climate. Net losses since1990 have been substantial, especially in LatinAmerican and the Caribbean and Sub- SaharanAfrica, and only partly compensated by net gainselsewhere. The rate of deforestation slowed in thepast decade, but on current trends zero net losseswill not be reached for another 20 years (figure 7b).Protecting forests and other terrestrial andmarine areas helps protect plant and animalhabitats and preserve the diversity of species. By2010, 13 percent of the world’s land area hadbeen protected, but only 1.6 percent of oceanshad similar protection. Such measures haveslowed the rate of species extinction, but substantiallosses continue (United Nations 2012).The Millennium Development Goals call forhalving the proportion of the population withoutaccess to improved sanitation facilities and watersources by 2015. In 1990 more than 1 billionpeople lacked access to drinking water from aconvenient, protected source. In developing countriesthe proportion of people with access to an14 World Development Indicators 2013 Front ? User guide World view People Environment