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IMI-SDG6: Integrated Monitoring Initiative for SDG 6

Our work: Indicator 6.4.1 and 6.4.2 computing and reporting

Senegal Workshop

FAO is the custodian agency responsible for monitoring SDG target 6.4 that addresses water use and scarcity to “substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity and substantially reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity by 2030”. Two indicators, 6.4.1 on change in water use efficiency over time and 6.4.2 on level of water stress: freshwater withdrawal as a proportion of available freshwater resources, track progress towards the target. 

Indicator 6.4.1 allows countries to assess how much their economic growth depends on water resources. Water-use efficiency is defined as the gross value added per unit of water used, expressed in US$/m3. The indicator 6.4.2 measures water stress. It is determined as the ratio of total freshwater withdrawn to the total renewable freshwater resources in a particular country or region, taking into account the water needed for sustaining the ecosystems. 

The two indicators are complementary in that they address, on the one hand the dependency of economic growth on an increasing use of water (6.4.1), and on the other hand the impact of water-use on the availability of water resources (6.4.2). Together, the indicators help to highlight areas that require improvement in terms of water resource usage, water saving strategies and water management policies.

Monitoring assist countries in making informed investment and policy decisions and ultimately in making progress towards SDG target 6 on clean water and sanitation for all by 2030.

 

The monitoring responsibilities of the target 6.4 are the following: the role of the countries is to collect and make available data. The custodian agencies, in this case FAO, are responsible for supporting the countries in collecting, monitoring and reporting the indicator data, as well as compiling and verifying the received data. 

The data is collected once a year through FAO's global information system on water and agriculture (AQUASTAT). The United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) publishes the data and informs the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF). IMI-SDG6 coordinates all the custodian agencies related to monitoring water and sanitation indicators, to ensure coherent and integrated efforts.

As the majority of the countries report their data, we have now data on both indicators to show the global progress towards SDG 6 since 2015.

The main beneficiary of the computing, reporting and monitoring for SDG 6 are the countries itself. Better data assists in making better-informed water and sanitation related decisions and investments and ultimate reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity. In short, the purpose of monitoring is to make real progress towards target 6.4 and SDG 6.

Countries are responsible for collecting and sharing indicator data for global reporting. For indicators 6.4.1 and 6.4.2, data is collected every year through the AQUASTAT network of National Correspondents. 

AQUASTAT is FAO’s global information system on water resources and agricultural water management. IMI-SDG6's role at FAO is to support the countries in the process, and together with FAO’s AQUASTAT team, to compile and verify the data and send it to the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) who publishes data to inform the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) annually.

Find out more:

Countries and their respective institutions compute the indicators once a year. On target 6.4 metadata and monitoring methodology, head to FAO’ website dedicate to SDGs, there is a page dedicated for each indicator:

Indicator 6.4.1: dedicated page. 

Indicator 6.4.2: dedicated page.

Monitoring of countries’ work towards the commonly agreed SDGs allows to track their progress, ensures accountability and assists in communication by quantifying the problems or successes. In other words, monitoring accelerates the achievement of SDG 6.

In 2019, the global level of water use efficiency (indicator 6.4.1) was estimated at 19 $/m3. The values ranged from close to zero $/m3 for countries whose economies are largely based on agriculture, up to over 1 000 $/m3, for highly industrialized and service-based economies, though considering, that efficiency does not necessarily follow the level of general development of countries. Improving efficiency can be done, amongst others, by increasing agricultural water productivity and reducing water losses, such as tackling leakages in municipal distribution networks. 

Indicator 6.4.2 on water stress data revealed in 2019, that 19 percent of the world’s renewable water resources were being withdrawn, after considering environmental flow requirements. Worldwide, 27 countries were experiencing water stress above 70% (seriously stressed), of which 17 had water stress above 100%, of which 2 had water stress above 1 000%. High water stress hinders the sustainability of natural resources and hampers economic and social development, all of which tend to disproportionately affect the most disadvantaged people. In these countries and regions, difficulties can be tackled to some extent by making use of non-conventional water resources, such as the reuse of wastewater, and efforts should be made to reduce freshwater withdrawal, by increasing productivity and efficiency in the use of water resources.

In summary, water stress remains alarmingly high in many regions even though water efficiency is improving in some regions.

The Progress reports evaluate the current status and acceleration need for each indicator. To discover the progress at the global, regional and national levels, head to UN-Water's SDG 6 Data Portal pages and FAO’s indicator pages and learn more about AQUASTAT’s data portals on their pages.

Progress reports: Learn about the progress towards target 6.4 “By 2030, substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity and substantially reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity” and its indicators 6.4.1 on change in water-use efficiency over time and 6.4.2 on level of water stress: freshwater withdrawal as a proportion of available freshwater resources.

Data portals: Find out information about SDG target 6.4 and its indicators:

  • UN-Water SDG6 Data Portal
    The Portal brings all the United Nations’ water and sanitation information into one place.  Hydrological, environmental, social and economic information from all countries (and areas) and regions is integrated and presented in a range of infographics.
  • FAO SDG pages
    The page presents all FAO SDG indicators and their methodology, key results, events and focal points.
FAO AQUASTAT: AQUASTAT is the FAO global information system on water resources and agricultural water management. Indicator 6.4.1 and 6.4.2 data is collected every year through the AQUASTAT network of National Correspondents. Find out information on the methodology and access the data base, among others.