Measuring Progress: Water-related ecosystems and the SDGs

i MeasuringProgress: Water-relatedecosystemsandtheSDGs Copyright©2023UnitedNationsEnvironmentProgramme ISBNNo:978-92-807-4015-8JobNo:DEW/2513/NA Thispublicationmaybereproducedinwholeorinpartandinanyformforeducationalornon-profitserviceswithoutspecialpermissionfromthecopyrightholder,providedacknowledgementofthesourceismade.TheUnitedNationsEnvironmentProgrammewouldappreciatereceivingacopyofanypublicationthatusesthispublicationasasource. NouseofthispublicationmaybemadeforresaleorforanyothercommercialpurposewhatsoeverwithoutpriorpermissioninwritingfromtheUnitedNationsEnvironmentProgramme.Applicationsforsuchpermission,with astatementofthepurposeandextentofthereproduction,shouldbeaddressedtotheDirector,CommunicationDivision,UnitedNationsEnvironmentProgramme,unep-communication-director@un.org.Theuseofinformationfromthisdocumentforpublicityoradvertisingisnotpermitted.Trademarknamesandsymbolsareusedinaneditorialfashionwithnointentiononinfringementoftrademarkorcopyrightlaws. Disclaimers ThedesignationsemployedandthepresentationofthematerialinthispublicationdonotimplytheexpressionofanyopinionwhatsoeveronthepartoftheUnitedNationsEnvironmentProgrammeconcerningthelegalstatusofanycountry,territory,cityorareaorofitsauthorities,orconcerningdelimitationofitsfrontiersorboundaries. TheviewsexpresseddonotnecessarilyrepresentthedecisionorthestatedpolicyoftheUnitedNationsEnvironmentProgramme,nordoescitingoftradenamesorcommercialprocessesconstituteendorsement.Authorsserveintheirpersonalcapacities,theopinionsexpressedinthisreportmaynotreflecttheopinionsoftheirhostinstitutions.Authorsarenotnecessarilyinagreementwitheverydetailofthisreport. Recommendedcitation:“UnitedNationsEnvironmentProgramme(2023).MeasuringProgress:Water-relatedecosystemsandtheSDGs.Nairobi.” Layout:UNONPublishingServicesSection ii MeasuringProgress: Water-relatedecosystemsandtheSDGs iii iv Tableofcontents Acronymsviii Acknowledgements1 Foreword2 ExecutiveSummary3 Chapter1:Background7 1.1Introduction8 1.1.1Afocusonwater-relatedecosystems8 1.1.2Water-relatedecosystemsandtheSDGs8 1.1.3Theimportanceofwater-relatedecosystemstothenaturalenvironment9 1.2Threatstowater-relatedecosystems9 1.3Presentationofreportsectionsandwhatiscoveredundereachsection11 Chapter2:Thestateoftheenvironment12 2.1GlobalandregionalprogressontheenvironmentaldimensionoftheSDGs13 2.1.1GlobalprogressontheenvironmentaldimensionoftheSDGs13 2.1.2Sub-SaharanAfrica:RegionalprogressontheenvironmentaldimensionandstateoftheenvironmentindicatorsoftheSDGs18 2.1.3AsiaandthePacific:RegionalprogressontheenvironmentaldimensionandstateoftheenvironmentindicatorsoftheSDGs23 2.1.4EuropeandNorthernAmerica:Regionalprogressontheenvironmentaldimension andstateoftheenvironmentindicatorsoftheSDGs30 2.1.5LatinAmericaandtheCaribbean:Regionalprogressontheenvironmentaldimensionand stateoftheenvironmentindicatorsoftheSDGs39 2.1.6NorthernAfricaandWesternAsia:Regionalprogressontheenvironmentaldimensionand stateoftheenvironmentindicatorsoftheSDGs43 2.2Socioeconomicandenvironmentalfactors’introduction47 a.Economicandsocialfactors47 b.Physicalinfrastructure48 c.Humaninfrastructure48 d.Environment48 e.Naturalresources49 Chapter3:Methodology50 3.1Theoryofchange51 3.2Analyticalapproach51 3.2.1Definitionofcomponents51 3.2.2Theoreticalmodelsspecifications52 3.3Presentationofresults55 Chapter4:Freshwater-relatedecosystems56 4.1Interlinkagesanalysisoffreshwater-relatedindicatorsatthegloballevel57 4.1.1Theimpactofdriversofchangeonthestateoffreshwater-relatedecosystems57 4.1.2Stateoffreshwater-relatedecosystems’impactonstateofhumanwell-being64 4.2Interlinkagesanalysisoffreshwater-relatedindicatorsatnationallevel72 4.2.1Colombia72 4.2.2Mongolia81 4.3Interlinkagesanalysisoffreshwater-relatedindicatorsatthesubnationallevel91 4.3.1Impactofdriversofchangeonthestateoffreshwater-relatedecosystems91 4.4Comparisonbetweentheresultsofstakeholdersandstatisticalanalyses94 4.4.1Global-levelanalysis94 4.4.2National-levelanalysis95 4.5Keyfindings96 Chapter5:Marine-relatedecosystems98 5.1Introduction:Chlorophyll-adeviationmeasurements99 5.2Interlinkagesanalysisofmarine-relatedindicatorsatthegloballevel100 5.3SriLanka:Interlinkagesanalysisofmarine-relatedindicatorsatthenationallevel104 5.4Conclusion105 Chapter6:Dataopportunities 107 6.1CurrentuseofbigdataintheSDGs 108 6.2Potentialuseofbigdatainotherenvironment-relatedSDGindicators 108 6.2.1SatelliteandotherEOdata 108 6.2.2Citizenscience 110 6.2.3Otherformsofbigdata 111 6.3Potentialuseofbigdatafordisaggregatedenvironment-relatedSDGindicators 111 6.4Challengesandpossibilities 112 6.5Conclusion 114 Chapter7:Conclusionsandrecommendations 115 7.1ProgressonenvironmentalSDGindicators 116 7.2IntegratingSDGindicators:Pilotingnewanalyticalapproachesthroughwaterdataandindicator 116 7.3Keyfindings:Globalfreshwater-relatedecosystems 117 7.4Keyfindings:Marine-relatedecosystems 118 7.5Importanceofscale:Globalversusnationalfindings 118 7.6Policyrecommendations 119 v 7.7Dataandindicatorrecommendations 120 Refer