Copyright © 2023 United Nations Environment Programme
ISBN No: 978-92-807-4015-8
Job No: DEW/2513/NA
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Recommended citation: “United Nations Environment Programme (2023). Measuring Progress: Water-related ecosystems and the SDGs. Nairobi.”
Layout: UNON Publishing Services Section
Project Manager: Therese El Gemayel, Early Warning and Assessment Division, UNEP
The drafting was guided by an Expert Group chaired by Dr. Erica Gaddis, University of Utah.
UNEP overall coordination: Therese El Gemayel, Ludgarde Coppens and Brennan Van Dyke from the UNEP Early Warning and Assessment Division under the leadership of Jian Liu, Director of the Early Warning and Assessment Division.
UNEP publication support team: Angeline Djampou (library); Dany Ghafari (data processing); Jinita Dodhia (UNON, design and layout); Karl Scheifinger (drafting, data visualization, peer-review); Moses Kiget (maps development); Ralf Heidrich, (drafting, peer review coordination).
Scientific editing: Strategic Agenda
Financial support from the European Union to produce this report is gratefully acknowledged.
The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets of the universal 2030 Agenda offer a blueprint
for a
sustainable and resilient future, where responsible management of our planet’s finite resources can create
a brighter
tomorrow for future generations. Global crises and conflicts, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in
Ukraine,
exacerbating food, energy, humanitarian and refugee crises, and a full-fledged climate emergency make it
ever more
important to redouble our efforts to implement this blueprint for building back a better world.
Today at the half-way point, the latest available data and estimates for 92 environment relevant SDG
indicators tell us
that the world is not on track to achieve the environmental dimension of the SDGs by 2030. However, there
is some
positive news. Global data availability increased to 59 per cent in 2022, from 34 per cent in 2018 and 42
per cent in
2020. And although only 38 per cent of the environment-related indicators indicate environmental
improvement, this
is a solid improvement compared to only 28 per cent in 2020. Moreover, indicators of some Goals showed
strong positive trends, including
SDG 9 on infrastructure, SDG 7 on energy, and SDG 6 on freshwater.
The integrated and indivisible nature of the SDGs reflect the interlinked nature of land- and water-based
ecosystems, and the rich
biodiversity they support, which provides food, clean water and air, and raw materials that fuel economic
growth, leading to prosperity
and human well-being. Achieving the SDGs, therefore, requires an integrated approach that recognizes how
these challenges—and
their solutions—are interrelated. The third edition of the Measuring Progress report focuses on
statistical methods to understand these
interlinkages through the prism of water ecosystems and the SDGs. In so doing, it provides insight into
how freshwater- and marine-related
ecosystems are impacted by various drivers, pressures, and actions, through use of statistical analysis.
We hope that this report will encourage governments to strengthen further their statistical capacity in
relation to the environment, incite
further work on developing disaggregated and ecosystem-relevant data and on promoting use of
non-traditional data sources like big data
and citizen science. The all-sectoral approach encouraged by the SDGs, which Measuring Progress
systematically explores would reinforce
synergies as much as minimize trade-offs for a more holistic realization of the 2030 Agenda. With every
action we take or investment we
make in a sustainable future, we inch closer to the world we all want to see. With unwavering hope and
determination, let us continue to
strive towards realizing the 2030 Agenda.
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Jian Liu
Director, Early Warning and Assessment Division