Evaluating the Sustainability of Ecological Quality in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region: Bridging the Millennium Development Goals and Sustainable Development Goals

ABSTRACT Although both the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) proposed by the United Nations have established clear indicator systems to promote the sustainable improvement of ecological quality (EQ), few existing studies have systematically conducted comparative studies and correlation analyses on the characteristics of EQ changes between these two periods. Therefore, this study takes the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (IMAR) as an example and innovatively proposes a research framework of remote sensing information extraction—spatio‐temporal evolution trajectory analysis—sustainability assessment—analysis of typical regional driving forces for EQ assessment. The results show that a spatial distribution of EQ in the IMAR features eastern dominance, western deficiency, and staggered in the center. Temporally, improvement was observed across 65.09% of the regional area. In terms of trajectory change, 32.56% of the area shows a positive trend in EQ, with a linear growth trajectory accounting for 58.48%. Ecological engineering and restoration policies in the SDGs stage have significantly improved EQ, successfully reversed the degradation trend in some areas in the MDGs stage, and are gradually working to meet the SDGs standards. Climatic factors play the pivotal role in determining the spatial configuration of EQ across the typical region. This study systematically analyzes the sustainability of EQ and the driving mechanism of spatial differentiation under the dual framework of MDGs and SDGs, offering critical decision‐making support for IMAR's sustainable development.