Global Monitoring Report 2008 : MDGs and the Environment, Agenda for Inclusive and Sustainable Development

The global monitoring report 2008 comes at an important time. This year marks the halfway point in the effort to achieve the millennium development goals (MDGs) by 2015. This is also an important year to work toward a consensus on how the world is going to respond to the challenge of climate change, building on the foundation laid at the conference in Bali in December 2007. Successfully meeting this challenge will be essential for durable progress toward the MDGs and related development outcomes. In providing an integrated assessment of the agenda for development and environmental sustainability, this year's report offers timely input on issues that will be at the center of discussions at various international forums in coming months. The report's assessment of the MDGs at midpoint presents a mixed picture. The first MDG calls for reducing extreme poverty and hunger by half. Although the poverty goal is likely to be met at the global level, thanks to a remarkable surge in global economic growth over the past decade, there are serious shortfalls in fighting hunger and malnutrition, the "forgotten MDG." High food and energy prices have brought increased attention to these issues, but more is needed. Reducing malnutrition is the MDG with a "multiplier" effect, because it is essential to success on a number of other MDGs which are unlikely to be met, including maternal health, infant mortality, and education.