SDG Goal 6: Ensure Availability and Sustainable Management of Water and Sanitation for All

The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 is centered on addressing the global water crisis and ensuring access to clean water and sanitation for everyone. This goal underscores the critical role water plays in human health, environmental sustainability, and economic development. Achieving SDG 6 is essential for ending poverty, improving public health, and fostering sustainable ecosystems. The most fundamental human need for health and wellbeing is access to clean water, sanitary facilities, and good hygiene. Unless progress quadruples, billions of people will not have access to these essential services by 2030. Rapid urbanization, population expansion, and increased water demands from the energy, industrial, and agricultural sectors are all contributing to the rise in water demand.

Half of the world’s population already faces acute water scarcity at least one month out of the year due to the demand for water exceeding population growth. Climate change is predicted to cause water scarcity to worsen as global temperatures rise. Enhancing water-use efficiency is one way to lessen water stress, and other measures include investments in infrastructure and sanitation facilities, preservation and restoration of water-related ecosystems, and hygiene education. By 2030, everyone should have access to safe and reasonably priced drinking water. Positive progress has been made. The percentage of people worldwide who have access to safely managed drinking water rose from 69% to 73% between 2015 and 2022.

Why?

It is a human right to have access to water, sanitation, and hygiene. Increasing sector-wide investment and capacity-building, encouraging innovation and evidence-based action, improving cross-sectoral coordination and cooperation among all stakeholders, and embracing a more integrated and holistic approach to water management are some of the crucial tactics to get back on track. In addition to health, water is necessary for ecosystems, education, peace and human rights, food security, and poverty alleviation. However, nations are confronted with increasing problems relating to water scarcity, pollution, deteriorated water-associated ecosystems, and collaboration regarding transboundary water basins.

What are the difficulties?

In 2022, there were still 2.2 billion people without access to safely managed drinking water, including 703 million without even a basic water service; 3.5 billion people without access to safely managed sanitation, including 1.5 billion without even the most basic sanitation services; and 2 billion people without even a basic handwashing station, including 653 million without some sort of handwashing station.
We can better control our food and energy production, promote decent jobs, and boost the economy by managing our water resources sustainably. We can also combat climate change and protect our water ecosystems and biodiversity.

Are climate change and water related?

In many locations, the availability of water is becoming less reliable. Droughts in some areas are making water scarcity worse, which has an adverse effect on people’s productivity and health and puts biodiversity and sustainable development at risk globally.
One of the most important ways to mitigate climate change in the next years is to guarantee that everyone has access to sustainable water and sanitation services. Millions of people will still perish each year from water-related illnesses like malaria and diarrhea if there is inadequate infrastructure and management. Additionally, biodiversity and ecosystem resilience will continue to decline, undermining attempts to create a more sustainable future and promoting prosperity.

How can we proceed?

In addition to investing in water research and development and advocating for the inclusion of women, youth, and indigenous groups in the control of water resources, civil society organizations should endeavor to hold governments responsible. Increased sustainability and integrity for natural and human systems will arise from raising knowledge of these roles and putting them into practice. Additionally, you can participate in the World Water Day and World Toilet Day initiatives, which are designed to raise awareness of hygiene issues and provide motivation to take action.

Goal 6 targets

• Billions of people still do not have access to clean drinking water, sanitary facilities, or proper hygiene, despite tremendous advancements. The current worldwide rates of progress—six times for drinking water, five times for sanitation, and three times for hygiene—must be significantly increased in order to achieve universal coverage by 2030.
• Although there has been a 9% increase in water use efficiency, water stress and scarcity are still issues in many regions of the world. 2.4 billion people resided in water-stressed nations in 2020. Conflicts and climate change exacerbate the problems.
• Increasing sector-wide investment and capacity-building, encouraging innovation and evidence-based action, improving cross-sectoral coordination and cooperation among all stakeholders, and embracing a more integrated and holistic approach to water management are important tactics to reorient Goal 6.
• Just 0.5% of the water on Earth is freshwater that can be used. A report warns of the impending water problem. The World Meteorological Organization Although there is significant regional variation, limiting global warming to 1.5°C as opposed to 2°C would roughly cut in half the percentage of the world’s population that is predicted to experience water scarcity.
• It is predicted that the number of urban dwellers experiencing water scarcity would double from 930 million in 2016 to 1.7–2.4 billion by 2050. A worldwide water crisis is imminent, according to the UN World Water Development Report 2023.
• Notwithstanding advancements, in 2022, 2.2 billion people still lacked access to securely managed drinking water, 3.5 billion to safely managed sanitation, and 2.0 billion to basic hygiene services.
• Lakes, rivers, and reservoirs are examples of surface water bodies that are changing quickly worldwide; in the last five years, one out of five river basins has seen significant variations in surface water levels. In many nations, water contamination is a serious threat to both the environment and human health.