The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) underpinned by 169 targets presents national governments with huge challenges for implementation. We developed a proposal for a National Blueprint Framework (NBF) with 24 water-related indicators, centered on SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation for all), each with a specific target. We applied the NBF to 28 EU Member States (EU-28) and conclude that:
Groundwater is the world’s largest freshwater resource and is critically important for irrigation, and hence for global food security1–3. Already, unsustainable groundwater pumping exceeds recharge from precipitation and rivers4, leading to substantial drops in the levels of groundwater and losses of groundwater from its storage, especially in intensively irrigated regions5–7. When groundwater levels drop, discharges from groundwater to streams decline, reverse in direction or even stop complete...
#2Geske Dijkstra(EUR: Erasmus University Rotterdam)H-Index: 9
Last. Maria Rusca('KCL': King's College London)H-Index: 15
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Target 7c of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG 7c) aimed to halve the population that had no sustainable access to water and basic sanitation before 2015. According to the data collected by the Joint Monitoring Programme in charge of measuring progress towards MDG 7c, 2.6 billion people gained access to safe water and 2.3 billion people to basic sanitation. Despite these optimistic figures, many academics have criticised MDG 7c. We provide an overview of this critique by performing a systema...
Adapting water governance to changing needs, while coping with the uncertainties caused by climate change and the consequences of urbanisation and demographic growth, is key for inclusive, safe and resilient cities. The urgency of the challenges calls for innovative practices to enhance water security and provide better services to citizens, as foreseen by the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6. The key question is: how to accomplish these objectives? While there is no doubt that technical sol...
#1Lisa Guppy(UNU: United Nations University)H-Index: 1
#2Praem Mehta(UNU: United Nations University)H-Index: 2
Last. Manzoor Qadir(UNU: United Nations University)H-Index: 53
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Monitoring national-level progress of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 through internationally agreed indicators has been the focus of intense scrutiny and considerable resourcing by international organisations and national governments, suggesting a ‘race for indicators’ has begun. However, in the eyes of many water experts, SDG 6 indicators are far from perfect. It is important to systematically identify and prioritise the gaps and weaknesses in the SDG 6 indicator framework to address them...
The current world population of 7.6 billion is expected to reach 8.6 billion in 2030, 9.8 billion in 2050 and 11.2 billion in 210, with roughly 83 million people being added every year. The upward trend in population size along with an improved quality of life are expected to continue, and with them the demand for water. Available water for human consumption and development remains virtually the same. Additional to the different pressures of the demand side on the available resources (offer side...
Unprecedented challenges in urban management of water, waste and climate change—amplified by urbanisation and economic growth—are growing in Asia. In this circumstance, cities need to be aware of threats and opportunities to improve their capacity in addressing these challenges. This paper identifies priorities, barriers and enablers of these capacities. Through the City Blueprint® Approach—an integrated baseline assessment of the urban water cycle—11 Asian cities are assessed. Three cities are ...
Abstract This paper presents global estimates of nutrient discharge from households to surface water based on the relationships between income and human emissions represented by protein consumption, degree of connection to sewerage systems, presence of wastewater treatment plants and their level of nutrient removal efficiency. These relationships were used to construct scenarios for discharge of nutrients with waste water based on the five Shared Socio-economic Pathways for the period from 1970 ...
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), are high on the agenda for most countries of the world. In its publication of the SDGs, the UN has provided the goals and target descriptions that, if implemented at a country level, would lead towards a sustainable future. The IAEG (InterAgency Expert Group of the SDGs) was tasked with disseminating indicators and methods to countries that can be used to gather data describing the global progress towards sust...
Last. Arnold Tukker(LEI: Leiden University)H-Index: 46
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Abstract The UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim to improve the lives of people, increase prosperity, and protect the planet. Given the large number of goals, interactions are inevitable. We analyse the interaction between two social goals (related to SDG1 Poverty and SDG10 Inequality) and three environmental goals (related to SDG13 Carbon, SDG15 Land, and SDG6 Water). We use a trade-linked, consumption-based approach to assess interactions in 166 nations, each subdivided into four ...
Desalination is increasingly popular for ensuring potable water. Using the City Blueprint Approach methodology in Antofagasta, Chile, we identify the barriers, opportunities and transferable lesson...
Abstract Following the challenges of the European Union (EU), member states have adopted circular economy (CE) plans and strategies, with objectives and measures to foster circularity. Although the concept of CE refers to various natural resources such as water and land, little is known on how current CE policies are integrating these environmental resources. This article assesses how water and land concerns are embedded in the EU CE action plans issued in 2015 and 2020 and a set of nine member ...
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and associated targets focus on a wide range of global issues and can be useful in coastal challenges such as climate change and green economic growth. The aim of this study is to tailor the SDGs, as a universally recognized policy framework, to assess the sustainability performance for coastal flood protection management to enhance climate-resilient and adaptable coastal development. To operationalize this aim, the SDG Sustainability Impact Score (SDG-SI...
Last. Lisa A. Levin(SIO: Scripps Institution of Oceanography)H-Index: 97
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U.S. public university campuses are held directly responsible for compliance with many of the same federal- and state-level environmental regulations as cities, including stormwater management. While operating as 'cities within cities' in many respects, campuses face unique constraints in achieving stormwater regulatory compliance. To compare the abilities of campuses to comply with stormwater regulations to municipalities, we conduct mixed-methods research using primary data from five Universit...
Most indicator-based assessments of progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) focus on identifying priorities for implementation. However, once priorities are established, policymakers are called to implement them in an integrated way which requires progress not just on a Goal’s targets (siloed approach) but also progress in interrelated policy areas. To assess baselines for integrated implementation, this article introduces a new family of SDG index based on a Goal’s targets and firs...
The formulation of 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) in 2015 was a major leap forward in humankind’s quest for a sustainable future, which likely began in the 17th century, when declining forest resources in Europe led to proposals for the re-establishment and conservation of forests, a strategy that embodies the great idea that the current generation bears responsibility for future generations. Global progress toward SDG fulfillment is monitored by 231 unique social-ecological indicators ...
#2Elson Silva Galvão(UFES: Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo)H-Index: 5
ABSTRACTSustainable development indicators (SDIs) are important parameters used to quantify sustainability and to help understand the transformations that occur in a city. The city of Anchieta is l...
Urbanization is a major global development. At present, more than half of the world population lives in urban areas, i.e., cities. One of the fundamental requirements of citizens is safe and sufficient drinking water. The premises for water security are adequate water management and governance. In this study, we determine priorities for Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) and assess the governance capacities of different organizations to address IWRM in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of the l...