MDG Seven in Timor-Leste

 

Goal Seven: Ensure Environmental Sustainability

Target 1: Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes and reverse the loss of environmental resources

Scorecard for Timor-Leste: Possible to achieve if some changes are made

Target 2: Halve, by 2015, the population of the people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation

Scorecard for Timor-Leste: Possible to achieve if some changes are made

Target 3: By 2020, to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum-dwellers

Scorecard for Timor-Leste: Possible to achieve if some changes are made

Timor-Leste is a small island developing state with fragile and depleting natural resource base. Majority of population is dependent on subsistence agriculture, including fisheries, and potentially faces food insecurity, reduced livelihoods and diseases due to extreme weather events (droughts, floods and erratic rainfall). Burgeoning population puts additional burden on the country’s natural resource base as reflected in deforestation and unsustainable agricultural practices like slash and burn. Though rich in biodiversity, Timor-Leste has neither adequately documented nor taken steps to preserve its rich land and marine biodiversity. Though the precise impact of climate change on Timor-Leste’s life and livelihoods is yet to be examined in any scientific manner, there are indications that extreme weather events in the recent years have been due to climate changes. Be that as it may, there is no scope to be complacent as these changes are inextricably linked to achievement of MDGs. Threat to livelihoods will exacerbate already high poverty levels. Women and children will have to spend more time fetching water and fuel thus affecting women’s workforce participation and children’s (particularly girls’) educational attainments. Disease patterns may also change leading to loss of productive days and extra burden on health care both by individual and the state.

Realizing the importance of environmental governance and its linkage to achievement of MDGs, the government of Timor-Leste has ratified the three Rio Conventions relating to Climate Change, Desertification and Bio-diversity and, more recently, Kyoto Protocol. As a signatory to these treaties, the country can hope to benefit from international funding and technical support mechanisms set up under these treaties. The country is also preparing to ratify Montreal Protocol and Vienna Convention.

Timor-Leste is suffering from massive forest loss due to the use of firewood as the main source of energy for cooking. According to findings, most of the population use wood as solid fuel and less than 2% use gas/LPG and electricity. Even in urban area people are most likely use wood than other fuels, only 3% use gas/LPG and electricity and 5% of other fuel.

One of the main goals of UNDP Timor-Leste is to create conditions for the mainstreaming of Environment, to ensure that there is a global understanding of the importance of this sector for the development of the country and for Poverty Reduction and that Environmental considerations are being taken into consideration at planning and policy making levels. For this, an Inter-Ministerial Working Group for Environment and Natural Resource Management has been setup, though only a small number of meetings have been held this year, it is expected that in the next year this body will become an active forum to ensure steps towards achieving sustainable development for policies and programmes and that environmental resources are not depleted. To support these efforts, work towards Public Awareness and development of sectoral mainstreaming guidelines is also being carried out. To respond to the second target under this goal, Timor-Leste has signed to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, under which it must report on the status of its biological diversity and where it stands under the CBD targets, as well as report on what their strategy for Biological Diversity is. Some data exists on Biological Diversity in Timor-Leste, mostly on Marine areas and in the area covered by the Nino Konis Santana National Park. Further data collection is required. To support Biological Diversity regional marine programmes and work on a Protected Areas Network is being carried out.

A key challenge to achieving MDG Goal 7 in Timor-Leste is lack of capacity. Under all projects it is essential that training and other capacity development is carried out. In addition to this, a National Capacity Self Assessment was finalised in April 2007, where individual, systemic and institutional actions have been proposed to address the key issues that will remove barriers to sustainable development.

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