Water in the Sustainable Development Goals: Making a difference

As the target date of the Millennium Development Goals – 2015 – approaches, it is clear that the outcomes are very uneven: Economic progress since 2000 has been stunning in some countries and regions, and global poverty levels have fallen quite drastically. Access to water has improved, yet access to safe sanitation systems is actually worse than it was 13 years ago.

Writing for a special package in the EU blog The Broker, SEI Executive Director Johan L. Kuylenstierna argues that as we look ahead and develop the SDGs, we need to start by asking what is missing from the MDGs – and by extension, from the international development policy agenda.

Pressure on natural resources, for example, continues to mount dramatically, not least as a result of successful economic development and continued population growth. Scarcity of basic resources such as land and water is increasingly limiting countries’ development options, and it has the potential to cause competition and conflicts with global implications. Billions of people still lack access to modern energy sources, another necessity for development, which makes every day a struggle for them. Yet the global goals set in 2000 did not cover broader resource scarcity or energy access, nor did they consider ecosystem degradation, climate change, and other challenges at the intersection of development and environment. Some of these issues have been addressed through other global processes, but with only limited success.

Now, with the SDGs, we have a chance to do better, he writes, and regarding water, he has two key suggestions:

The SDGs should clearly continue to prioritize access to safe water and sanitation – with the target now being full access for all. Yet we also need an open discussion about setting strategic goals related to water resources.

Read the full blogpost on The Broker »