We have past the half way stage to the Millennium Development Goals earlier this year. The MDGs were set by Heads of State meeting at the Millennium Summit in September 2000. The goals deal with environment, development, poverty, health, maternal health, education, gender and equality.

The Goals in part were a recognition of failure by governments to deliver on the broader agenda outlined by the outcomes from the UN Conferences and Summits of the 1990s. By focusing down the hope was that they would be delivered.

So how are we doing in developing them? It doesn’t look good as far as delivering on any of them. This has been exacerbated by the recent food and energy crisis which is particularly impacting on the poor.

Also the goals fail to address the major issue of consumption. According to Andrew Simms of the New Economic Foundation, “If the whole world wished to consume at the level of the United States – a consumption pattern which has been fuelled, incidentally, by the credit binge which led to the current economic crisis – we would need, conservatively, over five planets like Earth to support them.  But, under the current pattern of unequally distributed benefits from growth, to lift everyone in the world onto a modest $3 per day, would require the resources of around fifteen planets like ours.” [U.N. Economic and Social Council; May 2008.] 

If the other fourteen planets are not available then it is clear we need a different type of development, one that is sustainable. This was made clear at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. Governments recognised “common, but differentiated, responsibilities.”  In other words, that rich countries need to take more of the burden, while poorer  countries do, indeed, have a right to develop – but must do so sustainably.  Agenda 21 agreed at the Earth Summit the “blueprint for the 21st Century” – was perhaps the most comprehensive and enlightened intergovernmental agreement ever negotiated.  It does try to deal with the linkages between environmental, development and social issues, and it represents precisely the kind of approach needed now. 

To focus government minds the United Nations at the instigation of Prime Minister Gordon Brown is hosting on the 25^th of September a set of Three Heads of State Roundtables which will be held in parallel to the Plenary and focus on:

·         Poverty and Hunger

·         Education and Health

·         Environmental Sustainability. 

There will also be two cross-cutting themes on Gender and Global Partnerships for Development. 

The over-arching aim of the MDG High Level Event is to bring together governments, civil society and representatives from the private sector to:

·         review the progress already made towards achieving the Goals and associated targets

·         identify policy and implementation gaps

·         produce concrete efforts, resources and mechanisms to bridge those gaps. 

The meeting aims generate commitments from world leaders to ‘announce their specific plans and proposals’ and as such send a clear message to the Doha Review Conference.

Stakeholder Forum for a Sustainable Future is conducting a consultation with global stakeholders in preparation for the UN High Level Event on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on 25^th September 2008. The consultation will be in preparation for the Roundtable on Environmental Sustainability, and will produce a compilation document of stakeholder views. This compilation is being done with the support of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID).

For more information please visit http://mdg.stakeholderforum.org

We have put together a questionnaire for stakeholders as an opportunity to provide inputs to the process. This questionnaire, together with all the necessary background information and instructions can be downloaded at:

http://www.stakeholderforum.org/fileadmin/files/MDG_consultation/Stakeholder_Consultation_Questionnaire_MDG_High_Level_Event_2008.doc

So if you want to participate then do it here on the blog or download the questionnaire but remember we have a tight deadline to provide inputs is 5^th September 2008. Please send completed questionnaires to mdg@stakeholderforum.org.  

At this year’s meeting of the U.N. Commission on Sustainable Development, environmental photographer Mark Edwards was asked whether he thought there was “intelligent life on Earth?” 

“I think that is an open question,” he said.   “We don’t know yet.”