Egypt, Peru, Vietnam and Mongolia are among a number of countries taking the lead in putting the environment at the heart of their plans to cut poverty by 2015, according to a new report launched this month by the UN Development Program (UNDP) in partnership with the UN Environment Program (UNEP). However, unless more governments take more ambitious steps to protect the natural world, overall development goals will be jeopardized, according to the Report. “A healthy, sustainable environment is a vital national asset and when it is eroded, the poorest people suffer the most,” said UNDP Administrator Kemal Dervis. “This report highlights the progress of some countries towards more environmentally sustainable development planning but it also presents a harsh reality: If our delicate ecosystems are not firmly at the heart of all national plans to reduce poverty, then all other efforts to reach the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 will be undermined,” he said.
To read this report, please go to http://www.energyandenvironment.undp.org/undp/index.cfm?module=Library&page=Document&DocumentID=5951
