Mycorrhizal fungi and the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Published in FEMS Microbiology Letters (2026) — Antunes, Plett & Lekberg

This conceptual illustration accompanies a perspective piece examining the often-overlooked role of mycorrhizal fungi in advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Though these symbiotic soil fungi form partnerships with most plants on Earth — influencing nutrient cycling, soil health, and carbon storage — they remain largely invisible in global sustainability frameworks.

The figure distills this argument into a single visual: a central hub of mycorrhizal fungi radiating outward to the six SDGs they most directly influence — Zero Hunger (SDG 2), Clean Water and Sanitation (SDG 6), Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure (SDG 9), Sustainable Cities and Communities (SDG 11), Climate Action (SDG 13), and Life on Land (SDG 15). Around each goal, nested elements summarize the fungi's overarching contributions and the actions needed to strengthen them, from supporting crop nutrition and water retention to enabling phytoremediation, urban greening, belowground carbon sequestration, and biodiversity conservation.

The goal was to help readers, policymakers, and land managers quickly grasp where these fungi sit within the broader architecture of sustainability, and why their conservation belongs on the agenda.