20 October 2014: The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) has released a book, titled ‘On Target for People and Planet: Setting and Achieving Water-Related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),’ which highlights that framing water-related SDGs in a water security context provides a more comprehensive framework than the human-needs approach of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The book calls for: recognizing economic water scarcity; balancing development and conservation needs; and exploring pragmatic solutions. The book also identifies four key challenges: development of broad partnerships within the water sector and beyond; accommodation of growth requirements particularly in Asia and Africa; large-scale investments in water resources and agriculture need to complement, rather than undermine small-scale producers; and integration of policies for coherent water management across sectors. Next steps are also identified in the book: supporting governments to set national targets; achieving water and food security-related SDGs; and measuring and tracking progress.

The book includes chapters on: water-food-energy nexus; water governance; water metrics; social inclusion; sustainable development and ecosystem services; managing water variability; water quality; and accessing and putting water to productive use in Sub-Saharan Africa. [Publication: On Target for People and Planet: Setting and Achieving Water-Related SDGs]