The Ecological SGD'S: how much have we advanced?

(This article was originally published by the Sustainability Magazine of the UK start-up Wild Aura in June 2021)

Since the founding of the UN in October 1945, as an international organization for the harmonization of countries' efforts to maintain peace and security (as reflected in its Fundamental Charter), it has been directly involved in numerous missions and projects that aim to improve the status quo of society both in the short and long term, in order to guarantee a stable and secure future for next generations.

Based on this, on September 25, 2015, the world's leading countries joined a campaign adopted as a set of global goals to eradicate poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all, in what was called a "New Sustainable Development Agenda". A total of 17 objectives (known as SDGs) were established, corresponding mainly to the areas of social, economic and ecological development, each with its respective goals. Being the latter the one we will analyze in the coming weeks.

Among the ecological and sustainability areas that have been resolved and are planned to be resolved by 2030, are: 6. Clean Water and sanitation, 7. Affordable and clean energy, 12. Responsible consumption and production, 13. Climate action, 14. Life below water, and 15. Life on land. In other words, six of these seventeen objectives correspond to the ecological field and therefore we will analyze them.

Let's start with the first one!

(Photo by Judith Mendiolea. Presa de San Juan de Otates, León, Guanajuato, México.)

6. Clean water and sanitation.

Before starting to break down the advances and challenges that correspond to this area, we must first ask ourselves, why is it relevant enough for the UN to establish it as one of its objectives?

Although there have been great advances such as that between 1990 and 2015 the proportion of the world population that used a source of drinking water went from 76% to 90%, there is still a large gap so that an adequate quality of life can be guaranteed with access to the services of certain marginalized sectors of the population, as well as the optimization of tools and systems to solve problems such as the contamination of mantles and the scarcity of this natural resource.

More than 1.7 billion people currently live in river basins where water consumption exceeds recharge, and in reality, water scarcity affects more than 40% of the population, as a result of the excessive and unconscious use we have given it for decades, as well as the extraction and contamination of it by massive organisms that do not see the way (or decide not to take it), to repay the damage to society.

More than 80% of wastewater resulting from human activities is discharged into rivers or the sea without any treatment, putting the life of the ecosystems that depend on them, at risk, and therefore also ours.

But now ... does this mean that we have achieved nothing?

NO!

In fact, the first preventive measures began to be taken long before 2015:

As, for example, in "The Millennium Declaration in the year 2000" (the largest gathering of world leaders to date), which first established the Millennium Development Goals; or the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002; and the so-called “United Nations Decade for Water” of 2005 - 2015, where the sanitation mechanisms that would be tried to be implemented today were foreseen. 

And it is that all these projects and many more have served as the basis to generate the open space under which these current problems can be discussed in order to find a solution.

And above all to achieve much more social awareness about this problem that is and continues to be urgent and real!

Then…

How have the SDGs progressed in its first 5 years of life?

On July 7 2020, the United Nations presented, within the framework of the High - Level Political Forum (HLPF), the annual report on the status of the 2030 agenda. 

With which unfortunately, we have realized that in reality we are not taking the necessary path to achieve the action of the established objectives. Then, only four of the seventeen have had real and countable progress: SDGs 3, 5, 7 and 17.

Just one of the environmental ones!

(Which we will talk about next week).

Added to the fact of the global pandemic that we are going through that has led us to a setback in many of these processes ...

So, what overriding water sustainability goals do we have yet to meet?

By 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing the emission of chemicals and hazardous materials.

Significantly increase the efficient use of water resources in all sectors and ensure the sustainability of freshwater extraction and supply to address water scarcity.

Protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including forests, mountains, wetlands, rivers, aquifers, and lakes.

Expand international cooperation and support provided to developing countries for capacity building in activities and programs related to water and sanitation, such as water harvesting, desalination, efficient use of water resources, wastewater treatment, recycling and reuse technologies.

All this in order to guarantee the best quality of life for OUR WATERS.

And then, if this is being done by international organizations ...

What can we do? 

Shall we cry for misfortunes because there is nothing we can do?

NO!

A lot can change in ten years ...

Play your part and make a difference!

With solidarity actions such as making donations to organizations such as Water Action Decade (2018 - 2028), a council between Canada, Finland, Hugary, Japan, Kenya, Netherlands, Portugal, Singapore, Tajikistan and the Department of Economic and Social Affairs with the support of UN-Water; get involved in volunteering and sustainable activism.

As well as with daily actions that do not involve more than a small effort on your part or a failing for a small change in habits, such as not spending hours in the shower, but only what is necessary, buying in a sustainable way trying to achieve the goal of Zero waste, consume products whose companies have a history of low or no aggression and good management of their resources (generally verifiable data in their databases, or articles such as Impaakt's), or products derived from organic and renewable materials, and in general, looking for the alternatives with less environmental impact which are within your reach in your daily development; which will not only have a very assertive result in your environment but also in your lifestyle, making it healthier.

Don't wait for others to solve the problem when you can be part of the change!