13 November 2017: The world’s leading water agencies called for coordinated action on water resource resilience, to meet several SDG and climate targets including those on zero hunger (SDG 2) and sustainable cities and communities (SDG 11). The agencies propose that financing of implementation actions under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on climate change should require a full evaluation of water resources and their integration into policy.

The call was published in a three-part series of blog posts on the Global Water Forum website, authored by members of the Alliance for Global Water Adaptation (AGWA) and published during and after the 23rd session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 23) to the UNFCCC, held in Bonn, Germany, in November 2017.

AGWA is an international network of water agencies that seeks to develop and promote good management practice for resilient water resources. The AGWA members who authored the articles represent Oregon State University, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Bank, the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), The Rockefeller Foundation, and government agencies from Germany, Netherlands, UK and US.

Parties to the UNFCCC agreed to address SDGs 2 and 11 because of their deep connections to climate change.

In the three-part series, the water leaders note that cities are growing and resource use is intensifying, especially in East and Southeast Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. They warn that cities in these regions are likely to experience increased water stress, and are at risk of water-related disasters such as storms, flooding and drought. They recommend policies and processes to advance “water-centered urban resilience” under the UNFCCC and the SDGs, including: considering the connections between freshwater and marine resources; identifying new risks and emerging challenges for adaptation and disaster risk reduction (DRR); developing indicators for water resilience at the city scale; adopting water governance and allocation approaches that can accommodate changes in the water cycle; providing guidelines for properly valuing water and using that information to provide incentives for water-use efficiency and innovation; and ensuring that sufficient water is allocated to sustain ecosystems.

The authors note that cities play an important role in large-scale water management and in promoting water security. They also recall that parties to the UNFCCC, at their May 2017 intersessional meeting in Bonn, agreed to address SDGs 2 and 11 because of their deep connections to climate change. [AGWA Series Part 1] [AGWA Series Part 2] [AGWA Series Part 3]