Achieving Sustainable Development Goals from a Water Perspective

Abstract

Efforts to meet human water needs at local scales may cause negative environmental externalities and stress on the water system at regional and global scales. Hence, assessing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets requires a broad and in-depth knowledge of the global to local dynamics of water availability and use. Furthermore, interactions and trade-offs between different SDG targets may lead to sub-optimal or even adverse outcomes if the set of actions are not properly pre-designed to consider such inter-linkages. Thus, scientific research and evidence have an important role to play in facilitating the implementation of SDGs through assessments and policy engagement from global to local scales. This paper addresses some of these challenges related to implementation and monitoring of the targets of the SDGs from a water perspective, based on the key findings of a conference organized in 2015 focused on three essential aspects of SDGs: indicators, inter-linkages, and implementation. The paper argues that indicators should not be too simple and should ultimately deliver sustainability measures. The paper highlights that remote sensing and earth observation technologies can play a key role in supporting the monitoring of water targets. It also recognizes that implementing SDGs is a societal process of development, and there is a need to link how SDGs relate to public benefits and to communicate this to the broader public.

The Brisbane Declaration and Global Action Agenda on Environmental Flows (2018)

“…It encompasses the breadth of relationships from riparian communities dependent on healthy rivers for subsistence livelihoods, including smallholder farmers and fishers, through to societies with complex agricultural water infrastructure controlled under centralized and hierarchical governance arrangements. The statement of peoples' dependencies on and responsibilities toward healthy aquatic ecosystems is in line with the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Agenda 2030 and its SDGs and targets (UN, 2015), all of which promote wise use of water, other natural resources and global life support systems (e.g., Bhaduri et al, 2016;Garrick et al, 2017). However, it is also fully recognized that direct use of fresh water is essential for human survival, as specified in the SDGs.…”

The Alliance for Freshwater Life: A global call to unite efforts for freshwater biodiversity science and conservation

“…Scientific research is essential to inform good conservation decision making and for establishing the socio-economic context for sustainable use (Bhaduri et al, 2016;Matthews, Wickel, & Freeman, 2011). The Alliance aims to improve our understanding of all facets of freshwater biodiversity.…”

Sustainability in the Food-Water-Ecosystem Nexus: The Role of Land Use and Land Cover Change for Water Resources and Ecosystems in the Kilombero Wetland, Tanzania

“…The 2030 agenda framed 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) including a total of 169 targets highlighting the key role of climate and natural resources like water, soil and ecosystems providing the basis for sustainable development. There is a strong need to balance the tradeoffs between the different SDGs and the related targets [11,12]. Water is one of the key links between the SDGs as an integral part of human development and ecosystem needs [13].…”