4 December 2013
UN Study Reviews Options for Water in SDGs
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The UN University's Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH), the UN Office of Sustainable Development (UNOSD) and the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) have assessed options for incorporating water issues in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in a study that calls for trebling water investments and directing funds to the local level where implementation occurs.

catalyzing-water27 November 2013: The UN University’s Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH), the UN Office of Sustainable Development (UNOSD) and the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) have assessed options for incorporating water issues in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The study calls for trebling water investments and directing funds to the local level where implementation occurs.

The study, titled ‘Catalyzing Water for Sustainable Development and Growth: Framing Water Within the Post-2015 Development Agenda: Options and Considerations,’ analyzes challenges in the areas of drinking water and sanitation, irrigation for food production, and renewable energy production. The authors urge that any proposed SDGs be based on: poverty eradication; equity; sustainability; economic growth; universality; measurability and time-boundedness; sensitivity to external drivers; and good governance.

The study projects investment needs at US$840 billion to US$1.8 trillion over the next 20 years, with potential returns of over US$3 trillion in economic, environmental and social benefits. It assesses existing proposals for water in the SDGs, noting various calls for: water as a stand-alone goal; water as an enabler, with targets to be distributed among other goals; and water as a support for development and economic growth.

The authors highlight the importance of regional groupings to implementing new goals and targets, in particular the Group of 20 (G-20), as it includes the large populations of India and China. They call for official development assistance (ODA) to be targeted at the 30% of the world’s population who are making no progress on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). They add that the most critical challenge for implementation is the scale and continuity of investment, whether through local and national taxes, user charges, cross-subsidies, private sector investment, ODA or foreign direct investment (FDI).

UNU-INWEH director and report co-author Zafar Adeel stressed the need to strengthen water governance and address corruption in government spending, so as to get maximum value from water investments. [Publication: Catalyzing Water for Sustainable Development and Growth] [UNU-INWEH Press Release]

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