Prioritizing Sustainable Development of Ecologically Sensitive Regions

Abstract

Under the multiple threats from climate change and human pressures, plateau and alpine regions, super fast-growing cities, and coastal zones/island states are becoming ecologically more fragile. It is extremely difficult to pursue sustainable development goals (SDGs) that enhance human well-being and promote resilient urban economies and societies in such ecologically sensitive regions. Therefore, addressing the threats to ecologically sensitive regions should be prioritized to facilitate the delivery of the global SDGs. To allow this, we need to identify and then prioritize action for the regions that are most sensitive to climatic variability and external perturbations like urbanization, investigate the mechanisms underlying the acute trade-offs between human needs and environmental sustainability, understand social–ecological relationships and socio-economic–environmental interactions in these ecologically sensitive regions, and develop intelligent systems for monitoring and evaluating their sustainability.