Bhutan

MDGs Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability

Target 9: Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes and reverse the loss of environmental resources
Ensuring the long-term sustainability of the environment has consistently enjoyed a very high policy priority and remains a core objective within the country’s development framework. Bhutan’s environmental conservation efforts have received wide global acclaim and recognition, including most recently United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) “Champion of the Earth” inaugural award that was conferred on His Majesty the King and the Bhutanese people for the dedication and commitment in maintaining the country’s “excellent environmental track record.” According to the 2005 Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI) compiled by the Yale Centre for Environmental Law and Policy in conjunction with the World Economic Forum, Bhutan was ranked fourth among the Asian countries in its environmental performance. Given this hugely supportive situation to contain and minimize any potential loss or degradation of the country’s environmental resources and the existing favourable state of the environment, Bhutan remains comfortably on track towards realizing this seventh MDG target.

The success in maintaining this high level of forest cover (72.5%) may be primarily attributed to the self-imposed and strict limitations on the commercial exploitation of wood resources, including the ban on the export of timber and semi finished wood products; the uncompromising protection of forest resources through implementation of critical environment regulations; more scientific and better forest management techniques; the curtailment of unsustainable forms of agriculture practices such as shifting cultivation; and active afforestation and reforestation programmes.

As Bhutan is among those countries with significant GHG sequestration capacity, the overall net emissions was estimated at – 5.89 tons per capita. Even as the country has an overall negative GHG impact, sustained efforts are still being made to actively control the major sources of CO2 emissions in order to mitigate the country’s impact on global climate.

Target 10: Halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and sanitation

Bhutan has progressed rapidly in improving the supply of safe drinking water and sanitation and the MDG targets for the two indicators have already been achieved. However sustained efforts to further improve access and upgrade the quality of drinking water and sanitation facilities are being made. Spatial disparities still exist but are being given adequate attention and closed rapidly. There are also issues of quality and hygiene, access difficulties to water sources and seasonal variations that mark the essential differences between rural and urban water supply and sanitation facilities.

The situation of access to safe drinking water has improved considerably since 1990. The proportion of population with access to safe drinking water increased from 45% in 1990 to 84% in 2003. Safe drinking water is understood to mean piped water from a protected spring or well source. The target of reducing by half those without access to safe drinking water has thus already been achieved.

In 1990, 33% of the country’s population did not have access to basic sanitation, which improved considerably by 2000 during which only 12% did not have basic sanitation facilities. The target has accordingly been achieved well in time. BLSS 2003, reflects that 92.5% of all households in the country have access to basic sanitation. Urban residents have relatively better access to basic sanitation than rural residents.