Water Security as the Centerpiece of the Sustainable Development Agenda

Abstract

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has adopted some unique fundamentals: it is universal and applies to all countries; it is comprehensive and seeks to completely eliminate problems; it is complex as shown by the large numbers of goals and targets; and, it is ambitious as it aims to fix major global problems in a 15-year span. It signifies a paradigm shift in international development that emphasizes the role of national governments and other domestic stakeholders. Water security is a keystone element in achieving the 2030 Agenda – not just for Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 that focuses primarily on water security, but a number of targets embedded within other SDGs related to health, cities, consumption, marine resources, and terrestrial ecosystems. The concept of water security is quite pervasive in the international discourse on sustainable development, and lines up strongly with the notion of water as a human right. For the SDGs to succeed, water security must be achieved across all geographic scales – from international to national to sub-national to community – and across all social strata. Achieving this objective requires considerable alignment of all stakeholders: governments, farmers, private businesses, civil society organizations, researchers, and scientists. Implementation to achieve the various water-related targets offers an excellent opportunity for creating innovative and integrated solutions. These solutions require equally innovative and enabling policy environment, a role that is typically well suited to governments at various levels. Future outlook for achieving universal water security for all individuals is positive, but requires considerable rethinking around economic and social development.

Annex 2.1: The Millennium Development Goals

Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

• Target 1A: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people living on less than $1.25 a day

• Target 1B: Achieve Decent Employment for Women, Men, and Young People

• Target 1C: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger

Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education

• Target 2A: By 2015, all children can complete a full course of primary schooling, girls and boys

Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women

• Target 3A: Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005, and at all levels by 2015

Goal 4: Reduce child mortality rates

• Target 4A: Reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate

Goal 5: Improve maternal health

• Target 5A: Reduce by three quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio

• Target 5B: Achieve, by 2015, universal access to reproductive health

Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases

• Target 6A: Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS

• Target 6B: Achieve, by 2010, universal access to treatment for HIV/AIDS for all those who need it

• Target 6C: Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases

Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability

• Target 7A: Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programs; reverse loss of environmental resources

• Target 7B: Reduce biodiversity loss, achieving, by 2010, a significant reduction in the rate of loss

• Target 7C: Halve, by 2015, the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation

• Target 7D: By 2020, to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum-dwellers

Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development

• Target 8A: Develop further an open, rule-based, predictable, non-discriminatory trading and financial system

• Target 8B: Address the Special Needs of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs)

• Target 8C: Address the special needs of landlocked developing countries and small island developing States

• Target 8D: Deal comprehensively with the debt problems of developing countries through national and international measures in order to make debt sustainable in the long term

• Target 8E: In co-operation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to affordable, essential drugs in developing countries

• Target 8F: In co-operation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communications