Who is SIWI?

SIWI is a water institute. We leverage knowledge and our convening power to strengthen water governance for a just, prosperous, and sustainable future. SIWI focuses on a range of research and development topics within and around water that support decision-makers worldwide. SIWI hosts the World Water Week, the world’s leading annual water event, and awards the Stockholm Water Prize the most prestigious water award, and the Stockholm Junior Water Prize fosters future generations of water excellence. SIWI also hosts several flagship programs, including the UNDP-SIWI Water Governance Facility, the International Centre for Water Cooperation (ICWC), the Action Platform for Source-to-Sea Management (S2S Platform), and the Alliance for Global Water Adaptation (AGWA). Through the Swedish Water House, we connect Swedish water stakeholders with each other and to international processes.

Why we focus on water?

The SDGs describe an integrated trajectory for global development where focus falls not on single goals in isolation; but the entire suite of goals constitutes a pathway to the “future we want”. In this way, water serves as an exemplary, if not the single most important, connecting factor for reaching the Global Goals beyond SDG 6 itself. Water is essential for basic human needs as described in the human rights to water and sanitation, but also for marine and land ecosystems, for producing food and energy, and supporting livelihoods and industry. Water has a critical role to play in both mitigation of and adaptation to climate change. And not least, water is an important factor in the spiritual and aesthetic lives of billions of people. SIWI’s focus on water governance places SDG 6 and its relations to the other goals in a central position for our work, driving analysis on the need and state of its implementation within the framework and processes of the HLPFs.

Introduction

Freshwater is essential to all aspects of inclusive, equitable and sustainable development and is embedded in all of the sustainable goals – not only Goal 6. Water resources, and the wide range of services they provide, underpin poverty reduction, economic growth and environmental resilience. From food and energy security through decent work, cities and production to human and environmental health, water improves social wellbeing and inclusive growth, affecting the lives and livelihoods of billions.

Because water is a master variable for life on earth, if we fail to consider water management within our broader development plans and actions, we will fail to reach our targets. This risk is underscored by the annual World Economic Forum Global Risks Report, which, for the last five years in a row has included water crises in their list of top global risks. At the same time, resilient water management tools and approaches not only improve water security, but can provide important co-benefits across a range of sectors and economies, improving the overall resilience of our communities and ecosystems.

Reducing inequality, providing decent work and education opportunities, and promoting peace and justice for all requires integrated approaches that protect vital environmental functions that allow for human flourishing. Our current development patterns of overexploitation, pollution, modification, and degradation of water is a threat to many ecosystem services on which we depend. Ongoing changes to the hydrological cycle mean that conditions, fundamental to our lives and livelihoods and to the technical and cultural fabric of our societies, is changing. Increasing frequency and intensity of extreme water events emphasizes the need to adapt to climate change through resilient infrastructure, planning and governance.

Further, many regions that will be most severely affected by water scarcity related climate change impacts are also, in parallel, impacted by political tensions, armed violence, and internal water mismanagement necessitating urgent efforts to build trust and strengthen transboundary water cooperation at the intra and inter-state levels. These are daunting challenges indeed, but they also present a unique opportunity for communities to cooperate, learn, and adapt together.

The recommendations below highlight how improved water governance, management tools and approaches can contribute to reaching the SDGs under review during the 2019 HLPF. While water isn’t mentioned explicitly in each of these Goals, it is essential to reaching many of the targets being addressed.