From talk to action: 3 priorities for a water-secure future

The world is off-track to meet its goal of water security for all by 2030. The global conversation and mobilization around water have never been more crucial.

The 2021 UN Water progress report highlights that 2 billion people (26% of the world’s population) lacked safely managed drinking water services in 2020; 2.3 billion people live in water-stressed countries; and only 24 countries reported cross-border management systems for their shared waters. Major gaps remain in water quality data reporting and monitoring for over 3 billion people, meaning that the health of our rivers, lakes and groundwater is unknown.

Ensuring sustainable water management and access to safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) to all is crucial to fulfil the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and secure an inclusive, climate-resilient future. Water is not only critical for human and planetary survival in its own right, but cuts across the social, environmental and economic requirements of a healthy and thriving world.

Consider this: Economic losses related to water insecurity are already estimated to include US$260 billion per year from inadequate water supply and sanitation; $120 billion from urban property flood damages; and $94 billion per year due to water insecurity of existing irrigators, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. On the other hand, achieving clean water and sanitation targets, as detailed in the 2030 Agenda’s Sustainable Development Goal 6, can launch a ripple effect of benefits across the SDGs, such as poverty reduction, sustainable food production, improved health and well-being, gender equality, clean energy generation, provision of ecosystem services, and transboundary cooperation.

Consequently, protecting water can allow us to steer sustainable development on a wider scale by leveraging its impact on every area of our lives.

The UN 2023 Water Conference: delivering on a Water Action Agenda

Luckily, we face a rare occasion to convene a global discussion on water. Despite being a vital resource to support life on our planet, water, unlike climate, does not have its own convention. Water has been discussed globally through various international organizations, events, and forums, such as the World Water Forum, the Stockholm World Water Week and the UN High-Level Political Forum, but in fragmented style. After 46 years since the last UN Conference on Water, held in Argentina, water will headline the global policy agenda again, uniting representatives of government, civil society and the private sector . The UN Water Conference, taking place from 22 to 24 March 2023 at the UN headquarters in New York, will be a global opportunity to accelerate progress with a united front in the second half of the Water Action Decade (2018–2028) and the second half of the 2030 Agenda.

To make the most of this chance, we propose three water actions to further support the water-related goals of the 2030 Agenda.

1. Foster collaboration beyond the watershed

While water management tends to occur at the local, watershed or regional level – for instance, decisions about water use and allocation – many water-related challenges transcend national and regional boundaries and require a global response.

The borderless nature of water is embodied in everyday economic activities, such as trade of agricultural commodities and the water used to produce them. Many of the world’s major rivers and aquifers cross multiple borders, making cooperation between countries essential for sustainable water management.

Our first water action calls for sustainable and collaborative water management that reaches beyond the watershed, with participation from communities affected. To foster cooperation, the global community will need to consider the economies bound to the watershed on any side of a given border.

As shown by SEI’s work – such as the Water Beyond Boundaries initiative in Colombia’s Magdalena-Cauca River Basin and the Mekong River Basin in Southeast Asia, and Rwanda’s hydro-economic and climate change analysis – transboundary water management can not only address water scarcity, but boost the health and livelihoods of those the basin supports.

2. Maintain ecosystem health and implement the source-to-sea approach

The latest UN Water progress report emphasizes that one-fifth of the world’s river basins are experiencing rapid changes, from flooding and newly inundated land to the drying of lakes, wetlands and seasonal water bodies. Human activities, such as dam construction and agriculture, have intensified the change of freshwater ecosystems and hydrological patterns. Furthermore, while the ocean is the outlet of all human activities, it is often left out of water management discussions.

Our second water action calls for early ecosystem consideration in water management and planning process as well as a source-to-sea approach that recognizes the links between land, freshwater and the ocean. SEI has put early ecosystem consideration into practical action with projects such as helping authorities develop community-based ecosystem management for wetlands resilience in Thailand’s Songkhram River Basin. In California, SEI has been modelling complex water systems, including developing tools for aquatic habitat assessment that allow local authorities to protect threatened fish species. On the source-to-sea method, SEI’s Strategy for the Ocean and Biodiversity aims to improve the connections between land, coasts and the ocean through systemic, holistic public water management.

3. Increase knowledge exchange and inclusive decision-making

The typical method of addressing water challenges is Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). While IWRM has profoundly affected water planning practices in the last three decades for better and worse, it has not yet yielded sustainable water outcomes because of its top-down approach that compartmentalizes water management into silos. The results can inadvertently create conflict, exclude critical users or ignore gaps in water management.

Our third water action calls for collaborative and inclusive engagement in water management to deliver more effective long-term outcomes. We need to enable policymakers to see not only watershed-wide water demand and supply, but also smaller-scale differences that illuminate inequalities, addressing issues of poverty, gender inequality, and inclusion of marginalized groups.

For example, SEI’s initiative on Gender Equality, Social Equity and Poverty seeks to understand the interconnections between gender, equity, poverty and sustainability, with examples applied to water management in Bolivia, Colombia and Cambodia. By approaching water management with an intersectional lens, SEI has helped lay the groundwork for greater gender equality and social inclusion in WASH interventions, facilitated cooperative planning processes, such as serious games in Colombia and the Robust Decision Support framework.

Join us in building a united Water Action Agenda

The global water crisis demands urgent action beyond the watershed. By guaranteeing the world access to clean water and sanitation, we support not only human health and ecosystems, but worldwide economies, food security, energy access and social equality. As an environmental and sustainable development research institute, SEI is committed to advancing the Water Action Agenda and conversations across sectors, geographies and scales beyond the UN 2023 Water Conference.

This requires a united front. You can do your part. Join us in the global conversation around water and submit your voluntary commitment to the UN to ensure a sustainable water future for all.

This perspective was published here as a guest article by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) on its SDG Knowledge Hub.