U.N. Millennium Goals: Environmental Sustainability Presented by Alexander Titus, Nicha Poolpol, Carter Brown, and Alyson Linton

Introduction Environmental sustainability is one of the U.N.’s Millennium Goals EPA’s definition: to “create and maintain the conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony to support present and future generations.”

Introduction Although there are signs of progress, the U.N. goal has still not been met. Certain states continue to pose a risk to the environmental health of the Earth, and the countries of Southeast Asia and China fit this mold. Chinese President Xi Jinping at U.N. Sustainable Development Summit 2015

Southeast Asia & China Includes the countries of: Cambodia Vietnam Indonesia The Philippines Thailand Singapore Malaysia

Causation of Environmental Damage Include but are not limited to: Lack of green space in cities Overpopulation Increasing vehicle emissions Smog from past forest fires These problems are universal and thus affect a majority of both animal and human populations in Asia.

A Deeper Analysis Not only does overpopulation cause cities to crowd and increase the chances of an outbreak of illness, but it also drives the booming economy of Asia. The economies of Asia are healthy but the environment is not… why?

Xi Jinping at U.N. during the head of the economic crisis A Deeper Analysis There are no boundaries in place against unsustainable companies that pollute the environment. This is due to the fact that the nations of China and Southeast Asia place a higher priority upon economic growth than environmental sustainability. Xi Jinping at U.N. during the head of the economic crisis

These goals are hoped to be achieved by the U.N. by the year 2020. The Goal There are four subgoals: Integrate sustainable development principles into country policies and reverse environment loss reduce biodiversity loss the population’s access to drinking water and basic sanitation and achieve a significant improvement to the lives of slum dwellers. These goals are hoped to be achieved by the U.N. by the year 2020.

Progress Entire region focused on increasing solar energy and improving water sanitation. Bangladesh implanted a program to provide solar power to rural homes with a total of 2.8 million homes serviced. The problem of water quality is being addressed by Singapore and China.

World Cities Summit Singapore has particularly been active in vocalizing ways to share sustainable ways of using water when farming and urbanizing the country. The country has been organizing summits to address environment concerns, “A total of 20,000 participants from 133 countries and regions participated in the World Cities Summit, Singapore International Water Week and CleanEnviro Summit Singapore in June 2014. For WCS alone, 128 Mayors and city leaders, and close to 1,200 delegates, from 247 cities attended the Summit, (mfa.gov/sg).”

Conclusion Although this is only one example, it shows a strong commitment by the Southeast Asian nations to increasing their sustainability. China’s recent losses in the economy may also cause some policy changes regarding the environment. World Cities Summit 2015

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