Sustainable development ‘neglects crucial relationship’

The interactions between humans and the environment have been overlooked in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, a report has found.

Disregarding the roles played by environmental services and biodiversity in poverty alleviation could hinder sustainable development, according to a report by researchers at the University of Sussex. The first of the UN’s 17 development goals is to eliminate poverty.

The report, UN Global Goals: Mapping the human-environment landscape, said that the environment and the services it provides support a range of livelihoods, thereby alleviating poverty.