Blog 6: New Zealand

Implementation Strategy:

Some target strategies that New Zealand will put into place to achieve progress with water and sanitation includes but is not limited to:

1.     Achieve access to safe and affordable drinking water.

·       Addressing the “unfinished business” of extending services to 844 million people who still lack even a basic water service, and progressively improving the quality of services to 2.1 billion people who lack water accessible on premises, available when needed and free from contamination (safely managed drinking water).

2.     Achieve access to sanitation and hygiene and end open defecation.

·       Hand-washing with soap and water is widely recognized as a top priority for reducing disease transmission.

3.     Improve water quality, wastewater treatment and safe reuse.

·       Collecting, treating and reusing wastewater from households and industry, reducing diffuse pollution and improving water quality are major challenges for the water sector.

4.     Increase water-use efficiency and ensure freshwater supplies.

·       The alternative is to make better use of available resources. This target addresses the issue of water scarcity and the importance of increasing water-use efficiency, with the latter being a measure of the value of water to the economy and society in units of United States dollars per cubic meter (US$/m3) of water used.

5.     Implement integrated water resources management.

·       Putting this into practice will be the most comprehensive step that countries make towards achieving SDG 6. Some 80 per cent of countries reported from all regions and on all levels of development

6.     Protect and restore water-related ecosystems.

·       Water-related ecosystems underpin other SDGs, and yet they also depend on them, particularly those relating to food and energy production, biodiversity, and land and sea ecosystems. Protecting and restoring water-related ecosystems cannot be achieved without progress on these other goals and vice versa.

7.     Expand international cooperation and capacity-building

·       Expanding international cooperation and support for capacity development is fundamental and contributes to achieving many goals including SDG 6.

Implementation Strategies:

1.     Governance: Good water governance is the key to implementing IWRM. As pressure on water resources has increased over the past 25 years, the demand for greater cooperation across the water sector has grown.  

2.     Finance:  Financial needs in the water sector remain high. More funding is required, ranging from more-effective use of existing resources through to providing new financing paradigms to create greater opportunities for making rapid progress in future years.

Monitoring/ Management:

1.     Governance:  Integrated Water Resources Management: IWRM defines the enabling environment for integration, the need for a strong institutional framework (including participation), the need for management instruments for effectively managing water resources (including those shared across national boundaries), and financing requirements for water resources development and management.

2.     Data Acquisition and Monitoring: data underpin the governance elements of accountability, transparency and participation. They enable progress to be monitored and service providers, governments and development partners to be held accountable.

3.      

Note*: the cost of the implementation strategies is unknown at this time.

Climate Change in Relation to SDG6:

A.    Water-related ecosystems and the environment have always provided natural sites for human settlements and civilizations, bringing benefits such as transportation, natural purification, irrigation, flood protection and habitats for biodiversity. However, population growth, agricultural intensification, urbanization, industrial production and pollution, and climate change are beginning to overwhelm and undermine nature’s ability to provide key functions and services.

B.    Agriculture (including irrigation, livestock and aquaculture) is by far the largest water consumer, accounting for 69 per cent of annual water withdrawals globally.

Resources:

a.      Government.

b.     Funding from other countries and programs.

Inquiring Minds Would Like to Know:

Is this currently being addressed by the country? Yes.

Is this a priority in the country? Yes.

Is this an issue for the country? Yes.

Sources:

Clean Water and Sanitation. (n.d.). Retrieved April 12, 2020, from https://www.cdp.net/en/policy-and-public-affairs/sustainable-development-goals?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIndntlbjS6AIVENVkCh33RQ5JEAAYASAAEgILM_D_BwE#e7a7c86fc38fcdf21efa14482fc685c3?cid=7855922375&adgpid=85519956367&itemid=&targid=kwd-304400616200&mt=b&loc=9027292&ntwk=g&dev=c&dmod=&adp=.

Development Goal 6 Synthesis Report on Water and Sanitation 2018. (n.d.). Retrieved April 12, 2020, from https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/19901SDG6_SR2018_web_3.pdf.