The Rio+20 Earth Summit in 2012 called for the design of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as part of the global development framework after 2015 — the year when the Millennium Development Goals (SDGs) will expire. An Open Working Group of the UN General Assembly is currently convening around several key issues, among them land use, food security, forests and biodiversity. How these topics will relate to one another in a future development agenda is still unclear, and several groups have provided recommendations, ranging from calls for stand-alone goals to advice on methodology and structure.
Healthy and productive landscapes provide people with the goods and services that form a basis for development. At the same time, the way that landscapes are managed — whether forests are felled or left standing; the use of water; and the mode of food production — has a significant impact on development opportunities for future generations. A goal on sustainable landscapes would provide an opportunity to address livelihoods, ecosystem services, food and non-food products and climate change in an integrated way.
Should there be a Sustainable Development Goal on Landscapes? Or should landscapes be a cross-cutting issue? How could targets and indicators look like? And how would a landscapes goal relate to other SDGs?
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Background reading:
High-level report proposes SDGs – how are forestry and landscapes linked? Holmgren, Peter (2013)
Could the Sustainable Development Goals include Landscapes? Holmgren, Peter (2013)
From Millennium Development Goals to Sustainable Development Goals. Sachs, Jeffrey D. (2012)
