Accelerated action key for water and sanitation access, IHE Delft Rector says in article
There’s an urgent need for accelerated action in achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG6), which calls for universal access to clean water and sanitation by 2030, IHE Delft Rector Eddy Moors and co-authors argue in a recent article published by the American Geophysical Union’s EOS magazine.
The article warns that the rate of progress is far too slow to achieve this crucial goal, marking a midpoint setback in the United Nations' sustainable development timeline. Nearly 70 countries lag in achieving universal access to basic drinking water, and on average, a six-fold increase in progress rates is needed.
Water, fundamental to human prosperity, economies and cultures, plays a pivotal role in the planet's systems and hence underpins all SDGs, the authors write. Efforts to improve water have been piecemeal and siloed, making them inefficient, they add, and advocate for holistic, science-informed approaches that combine engineered and nature-based solutions.
The SDG 6 Global Acceleration Framework, introduced by the UN and affiliated agencies in 2020 in response to concerns about the lack of progress, is key, the article argues. The framework’s five interdependent accelerators – financing, data, capacity development, governance and innovation – generate “a critical focal point for global water security efforts.,”
Global debate
Drawing on the conclusions of a 24-hour marathon relay debate organized by IHE Delft and partners on the sidelines of the UN 2023 Water Conference, the authors highlight the need to consider local contexts and involve local communities in water management. Other key matters raised in the debate include capacity development, knowledge sharing in light of an upcoming wave of water sector retirements, and timely, verifiable and easily accessible data to support a digital revolution in water.
The marathon debate, which involved more than 600 participants around the world, resulted in a call for the creation of a Global Accelerator Incubator Network for SDG-6, or GAINS6, to foster innovative solutions to propel progress towards SDG6.
In addition to Moors, article authors include Graham Jewitt, IHE Delft Professor of Hydrology and Charles Vörösmarty, Director of the City University of New York’s Environmental Sciences Initiative and the initiative’s Associate Director, Anthony D. Cak.
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