Landscape Approaches & Ecosystem Services in the

post-2015 SDGs

Sylvia Wood‘Bridging Agriculture and Conservation Initiative’

Sustainable Development Goals

• Called for out of the Rio+20 UN Sustainable Development

Meeting 2012

• Build on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

• SDGs are a set of internationally recognized goals which will

guide the global development agenda from 2015-2030

• limited in number

• aspirational

• easy to communicate

Part of a larger, longer process…

Target 7.A: Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes and reverse the loss of environmental resources• Forests are a safety net for the poor, but they continue to disappear at an alarming rate.• Global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) have increased by more than 50 per cent since

1990.• Afforestation and the natural expansion of forests have reduced the net loss of forest from an

average of 8.3 million hectares annually in the 1990s to an average of 5.2 million hectares annually between 2000 and 2010.

Target 7.B:Reduce biodiversity loss, achieving, by 2010, a significant reduction in the rate of loss• Protected ecosystems covered 14 per cent of land and coastal marine areas worldwide by

2012.

Target 7.C:Halve, by 2015, the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation• The world has met the target of halving the proportion of people without access to improved

sources of water, five years ahead of schedule, but 748 million people still lack access to an improved source of drinking water.

• Over a quarter of the world’s population has gained access to improved sanitation since 1990, yet one billion people still resort to open defecation, but 2.5 billion in developing countries still lack access to improved sanitation facilities.

“Forests are a safety net for the poor, but they continue to disappear at an alarming rateForests are disappearing at a rapid pace, despite the establishment of forest policies and laws supporting sustainable forest management in many countries. The largest net loss of forests has occurred in South America and Africa—around 3.6 million hectares and 3.4 million hectares per year, respectively, over the period from 2005 to 2010.

Close to 75 per cent of the world’s forests are covered by national forest programmes. However, in many cases, deforestation is caused by factors beyond a programme’s control. One of the primary drivers of deforestation is the conversion of forests into agricultural land to feed the world’s growing population”

Learning from the MDGs

Criticism:MDGs did not sufficiently include environmental sustainability in its targets – emphasis on social and economic issues meant too little attention to the third dimension of sustainable development – the environment.

Learning:“More integrated approaches between agriculture and forest sectors are needed to make real progress in reversing the loss of natural resources, including forests, and to fulfil international commitments related to climate change mitigation, biodiversity conservation and sustainable land management.”

Change:SDGs are expected to adopt an approach that fully integrates the social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainable development.

Sustainable Development Goals for 2015-2030

• Many parallel processes have been concurrently developing proposals for goals, targets and indicators for the SDGs

Open Working Group

• July released Outcome Document

• Proposal for the SDGs to UN Secretary General

• Presented to the UN General Assembly in Sept 2014

• 17 Aspirational Goals

• 169 Targets

http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/owg.html

. 2.3  by 2030 double the agricultural productivity and the incomes of small-scale food producers….

. 2.4  by 2030 ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, that help maintain ecosystems, that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other disasters, and that progressively improve land and soil quality

• 2.a increase investment, including through enhanced international cooperation, in rural infrastructure, agricultural research and extension services, technology development, and plant and livestock gene banks to enhance agricultural productive capacity in developing countries, in particular in least developed countries

. 2.c.  adopt measures to ensure the proper functioning of food commodity markets and their derivatives, and facilitate timely access to market information, including on food reserves, in order to help limit extreme food price volatility

OWG Goal 2: End Hunger, Achieve

Food Security and Improved Nutrition

and Promote Sustainable Agriculture

Targets

OWG Goal 6. Ensure

availability and sustainable

management of water and

sanitation for all

. 6.3  by 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater, and increasing recycling and safe reuse by x% globally

. 6.4  by 2030, substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity, and substantially reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity

. 6.5  by 2030 implement integrated water resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate

. 6.6  by 2020 protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes

. 6.b  support and strengthen the participation of local communities for improving water and sanitation management

Targets

OWG Goal 14. Conserve and

sustainably use the oceans, seas

and marine resources for sustainable

development

. 14.1  by 2025, prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, particularly from land-based activities, including marine debris and nutrient pollution

. 14.2  by 2020, sustainably manage, and protect marine and coastal ecosystems to avoid significant adverse impacts, including by strengthening their resilience and take action for their restoration, to achieve healthy and productive oceans

. 14.7  by 2030 increase the economic benefits to SIDS and LDCs from the sustainable use of marine resources, including through sustainable management of fisheries, aquaculture and tourism

. 14.a  increase scientific knowledge, develop research capacities and transfer marine technology taking into account the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission Criteria and Guidelines on the Transfer of Marine Technology, in order to improve ocean health and to enhance the contribution of marine biodiversity to the development of developing countries, in particular SIDS and LDCs

Targets

OWG Goal15.Protect, restore and promote sustainable

use of terrestrial ecosystems,

sustainably manage forests, combat

desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation

and halt biodiversity loss

. 15.1  by 2020 ensure conservation, restoration and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular forests, wetlands, mountains and drylands, in line with obligations under international agreements

. 15.4  by 2030 ensure the conservation of mountain ecosystems, including their biodiversity, to enhance their capacity to provide benefits which are essential for sustainable development

. 15.9  by 2020, integrate ecosystems and biodiversity values into national and local planning, development processes and poverty reduction strategies, and accounts

. 15.a  mobilize and significantly increase from all sources financial resources to conserve and sustainably use biodiversity and ecosystems

. 15.b  mobilize significantly resources from all sources and at all levels to finance sustainable forest management, and provide adequate incentives to developing countries to advance sustainable forest management, including for conservation and reforestation

.

1. Support the High-Level Panel, OWG and other post-2015 SDG

processes

2. Thematic Groups to identify long-term pathways to

sustainable development

3. Promote testing, demonstration, development of promising

new “solutions”

4. Build a global Knowledge Center Network for local and

regional problem solving

5. Global online university for sustainable development

SDSN

http://unsdsn.org

SDSNMission: Mobilizes scientific and technical expertise from academia, civil society, and the private sector in support of sustainable development problem solving at local, national, and global scales.

Aim: to accelerate joint learning and help to overcome the compartmentalization of technical and policy work by promoting integrated approaches to the interconnected economic, social, and environmental challenges confronting the world.

Regional/National SDSN networks

SDSN Membership

Solutions Initiatives

National Gov’t

Universities, research Institutes, NGOs

Solutions InitiativesHow can we achieve our SDG targets?

SDSN

http://unsdsn.org

SDSN Thematic Groups

SDSN Regional NetworksThe purpose of Regional SDSNs is to mobilize universities, research

centers, civil society organizations, business, and other knowledge centers around practical problem solving for sustainable development. Each Regional SDSN has its own priorities focusing on all or a subset of the following objectives:

1. Engaging in the global discussion on shaping the next generation of post-2015 development goals, including help to national governments to participate and lead in the global negotiations;

2. Promoting Solution Initiatives for sustainable development in the region or beyond that can have a transformative impact on sustainable development;

3. Promoting education for sustainable development;

4. Assisting governments in diagnosing local, national, and regional sustainable development challenges and in devising long-term strategies. http://unsdsn.org

SDSN Membership and Academic Network

http://unsdsn.org

OWG Goal 2: End hunger, achieve

Food Security and Improved

Nutrition and Promote

Sustainable Agriculture

Developing Indicators and Metrics

OWG Goal 6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of

water and sanitation for all

OWG Goal15.Protect, restore and promote sustainable

use of terrestrial ecosystems,

sustainably manage forests, combat

desertification, and halt and reverse land

degradation and halt biodiversity loss

OWG Goal 14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable

development

Developing Indicators and Metrics

More Innovative, cross-cutting Indicators are needed!!

http://unsdsn.org/

Thank you!