Goal 6 - Water and Sanitation: essential for current and future generations

Water is the source of life on our Blue Planet. Water resources, and the range of services they provide, underpin poverty eradication, economic growth, and environmental sustainability.


Ning ZetaoNing Zetao | Updated: 15-07-2018 04:22 IST | Created: 15-07-2018 02:16 IST
Goal 6 - Water and Sanitation: essential for current and future generations
The implementation of Goal 6 is also linked with the achievement of other SDGs, such as Goal 14, “Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development”. The water we pollute will end up in the oceans and seas, causing marine pollution. (Image Credit: Twitter)

As a professional swimmer, my life and career are inseparably linked to water. Without water, I would not be alive; without water, I would not be where I am today.

Water is the source of life on our Blue Planet. Water resources, and the range of services they provide, underpin poverty eradication, economic growth, and environmental sustainability. From food and energy security to human and environmental health, water contributes to improvements in social well-being and inclusive growth. The livelihoods of billions depend on it.

While water is so vitally important to our life, approximately two-thirds of the global population live in areas that experience water scarcity for at least one month a year. Inadequate sanitation facilities remain a reality for one third of the world’s population.

The global average water footprint per year per capita is 1,240 cubic metres (1,240,000 litres). That is almost as much as half of the water needed to fill an Olympic swimming pool. But many of the other facts and figures concerning water use are not widely known. For example, the production of one kilogramme of beef requires approximately 15,000 litres of water and to make one pair of jeans, 8,000 litres of water is consumed1. In other words, we are unsustainably consuming the most important resource on Earth, without even realizing it!

Ensuring there is sufficient and safe water supply for everyone is becoming increasingly challenging worldwide. Continuous population growth, rapid economic development and accelerated urbanization pose great challenges to water supply and food security.

China’s population is expected to peak around 2030 at 1.45 billion. These people will need to be supplied with safe drinking water and sanitation services, as well as food and other agricultural products.

Great efforts have been made in China to ensure adequate water and sanitation services to meet people’s needs. For example, to address water shortages and improve the quality of water available to indigent mothers and their families, China Women’s Development Fund (CWDF) launched a special project, "With Love From Earth, Water Cellars for Mothers", in 2000, to raise funds and build strong and durable water cellars. Millions of people have benefited from the project.

The “Campus Safe Drinking Water Program”, under the Water Cellars for Mothers Project, was launched in 2011. The program now covers 769 rural schools, providing safe drinking water for close to 400,000 faculty staff and students2.

Goal 6 of the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by world leaders at the United Nations in 2015 offers a great opportunity for concerted action by the international community to tackle the growing global water crisis. The Goal aims to ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.

The implementation of Goal 6 is also linked with the achievement of other SDGs, such as Goal 14, “Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development”. The water we pollute will end up in the oceans and seas, causing marine pollution.

Going forward, we must recognize the impacts of what we do on water resources, and act without delay. The choice is ours. We must switch to a more sustainable pattern of consumption, support products that are environmentally friendly, and reduce anthropogenic pollution.

Only through such actions can we promote the sustainable use of water resources in a tangible manner, minimize pollution, and help more people overcome water scarcity.

In this context, I would like to make an appeal: Join me in raising awareness and taking action, to make Goal 6 on water and sanitation a reality. The International Decade for Action – Water for Sustainable Development 2018-2028 is an opportunity we cannot afford to miss. Let’s work together to secure development opportunities and human dignity for all of us, and for future generations.

  • FIRST PUBLISHED IN:
  • World Bank
Give Feedback