World Water Day on 22 March highlighted the central role of fresh water in tackling the climate, biodiversity and pollution crises. We asked United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) water expert Joakim Harlin to explain UNEP’s priorities for speeding up progress on the Sustainable Development Goal on water.
UNEP: What is UNEP’s mandate regarding freshwater?
Joakim Harlin (JH): In 2012, the United Nations General Assembly strengthened UNEP’s mandate and role in promoting a strong science-policy interface, providing capacity-building and access to technology to countries, and strengthening its regional presence. The aim is to better assist countries to implement their national environmental policies, including on freshwater ecosystems.
UNEP: The world is not on track to meet any of the water-related Sustainable Development Goals. How can things be turned around and why is freshwater so important in tackling the climate, nature and pollution crises?
JH: The impacts of all three of these inter-related planetary crises are directly, and in some cases disproportionately, felt on freshwater bodies, which are essential for the lives, livelihoods and health of people, economies and the planet. But water resources management, improving water quality and restoring freshwater ecosystems are also key to solving these crises.
Over the last 20 years, for example, 90 per cent of major disasters were caused by floods, droughts and other climate and water-related events. With more frequent droughts, people in water-scarce areas will increasingly depend on groundwater because of its buffer capacity and resilience to climate variability. A sound understanding of these processes and accurate data are needed to inform policy and response measures like the application of nature-based solutions for mitigating the impacts of floods and droughts.
UNEP: The UN-Water Summit on Groundwater in December 2022 aims to bring attention to groundwater at the highest international level, and World Water Day this year focused on groundwater and aquifers. Why is groundwater important?
JH: Groundwater accounts for about 30 per cent of total freshwater resources, yet it remains out of sight and out of mind for most people. Improved drilling and pumping technologies over the past 50 years, however, have increased access to groundwater, which is heavily, and sometimes unsustainably, used for irrigation. It’s also an important source of drinking water. Like surface water, groundwater is threatened by anthropogenic and natural contaminants, such as saline intrusion, nutrients, pesticides and other chemical substances. But despite the importance of groundwater for people and ecosystems, information and data on groundwater quality are sparse. UNEP and partners are working to rectify this.
UNEP: What are UNEP’s technical strengths on the freshwater front?
JH: We help countries gather data on freshwater ecosystems. Since 2015 more than 185 countries have reported freshwater data via UNEP. We turn that data into actionable information and decision support tools that help countries make progress. We also maintain data platforms, such as the Freshwater Ecosystems Explorer, and produce knowledge products, publications and videos. Capacity-building and working with countries to develop action plans to address identified barriers are further important aspects of our work.
UNEP: Both within and outside the United Nations system many players are working to facilitate measurable and substantive progress on freshwater issues at global, regional and national levels, and accelerate action. What advantages does UNEP have over some of the partners with which it collaborates?
JH: UNEP has the convening power to bring stakeholders and actors at all levels to the table for policy dialogue, science-based assessments and environmental agreements. It provides the secretariat for multilateral environmental agreements related to freshwater, including the Convention on Biological Biodiversity, the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, and the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. UNEP is also able to enhance its in-house capacity and expertise by partnering with a wide range of organizations and collaborating centres, including universities, non-governmental organizations and the private sector.
UNEP: What are UNEP’s responsibilities within Sustainable Development Goal 6 on water?
JH: UNEP has been entrusted with custodianship for monitoring and reporting on three of the 11 water indicators related to (i) water quality; (ii) integrated water resources management, including through transboundary cooperation; and (iii) the protection and restoration of water-related ecosystems, including mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes. Our work cuts across many other water-related targets. For example, Target 2.4 on agricultural production systems that help maintain ecosystems and strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate; Target 14.1 on reducing marine pollution; and Target 15.1 on the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services.
UNEP builds on the above work to determine freshwater status and issues, identify and prioritize actions, and develop and disseminate decision support tools that help countries to take action on climate, ecosystems and pollution issues.
For more information, please contact Joakim Harlin: joakim.harlin@un.org
