Water is also a vehicle for many bacteria, protozoa and viral pathogens, which can cause diseases associated with gastroenteritis, and even other severe illnesses, such as meningitis and hepatitis [2]. Furthermore, with climate change influencing higher frequency of extreme events, the quantity and quality of water is compromised by both droughts and floods. Hence, the Sustainable Development Goal 6 aims to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all, encompassing six targets to achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water, as well as sanitation and hygiene, improving water quality, increasing water efficiency in the different sectors, implementation of an integrated water resources management, and protection and restoration of ecosystems [3].

Clean Water, Sanitation, and Health

        In 2020, officials recorded that 2 billion people (or 26% of the global population) lack access to safe potable water, and 3.6 billion people (or 46% of the global population) do not have access to safely managed sanitation facilities [4]. Access to clean drinking water and sanitation infrastructure is closely linked to health. In fact, a study conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2012 concluded that every US$1.00 invested in sanitation would result in a return of US$5.50 in lower costs for health systems, increasing productivity, and preventing premature deaths [5]. According to WHO data, the region most affected by sanitation deficiency is Sub-Saharan Africa, where 12% of the population has access to basic sanitation facilities, 19% has a limited structure available, 31% has the use of an unimproved system, and 18% practices open defecation (Figure 1). Additionally, other regions that have less than 50% of their population with access to safely managed sanitation systems include: Latin America and Caribbean, Western Asia and Northern Africa, and Central and Southern Asia.

        Experts estimate that the absence of proper water and sanitation facilities is the leading cause of the death for 827,000 people in low- and middle- income countries [5]. The main associated diseases are diarrhoea (responsible for 60% of the aforementioned number of deaths), cholera, typhoid, dysentery, hepatitis A, and polio, besides illnesses caused by intestinal worms, such as schistosomiasis and trachoma, and malnutrition [5; 7]. A sad reality, considering that most of these diseases can be easily preventable with access to potable water and to adequate sanitation systems. For instance, improved water and sanitation access could avert the deaths of children under age 5, which is estimated to be 297,000, as well as stunting [5].

         Furthermore, the current reality of precarious water and sanitation systems in many places around the world makes the fight against the spread of COVID-19 even more challenging. Adequate hygiene measures are key to prevent the spread of the virus. However, in low income countries, there is a high deficiency in water services to provide this benefit of proper hygiene. In Sub-Saharan Africa, for example, only 26% of its population have access to basic handwashing facilities (soap and water), 40% have limited access (i.e. without water or soap), and 34% completely lack any service or alternative [6]. Moreover, the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA has been reported in wastewater, although the knowledge on the infectivity of the virus via wastewater is limited at the moment [8].

Clean Water, Sanitation, and Climate Change

         Climate change represents a serious threat to the provision of clean freshwater worldwide. This is largely due to the finding that climate change is projected to cause shifts in patterns of precipitation and evaporation, as well as alter the frequency and severity of extreme weather events [9, 10]. Estimates suggest that modifications in surface water area indicative of drought and flooding events are taking place in about one-fifth of the world’s river basins [11]. Droughts decrease water availability while maintaining or increasing demand, leading to water scarcity. Without the water they need for drinking, hygiene, or other uses like agriculture, people suffer. The little-available water can be more likely to contain pollutants, which can impact human health [12]. People may be driven to drink contaminated water, which results in a surge in waterborne diseases. With little or no rainfall and no water for irrigation, agriculture and livestock are negatively affected, and food supply also becomes endangered [13]. Additionally, drought-driven lack of water can cause conflict among users, as they compete for a dwindling resource. When conflict arises, it can impact and divert resources from the community’s infrastructure, including systems to maintain and sanitize fresh water [14].

         Like too little water, too much water is also a problem. When extreme events like flooding occur, there can be negative consequences for water quality and sanitation systems [15]. Flooding events have been associated with the presence of higher levels of microbes and pathogens, as well as metals and chemical and organic contaminants [16, 17]. Increased surface runoff associated with heavy rainfall can pick up sediment, contaminants like fertilizer, and other pollutants, which then might be transferred to a community’s water source [15, 17]. Heavy rainfall and flooding can also overload and damage infrastructure and sanitation systems, leaving communities with contaminated, unsafe water [18].

        Sustainable use of water resources, along with resilient infrastructure, forms a basis for gaining and maintaining access to clean water and sanitation for vulnerable communities across the world. An integrated, participatory approach to management, combined with risk assessment and adaptive solutions, including community lead and/or nature-based solutions, can increase water security and safety [19]. Strengthening cooperation between communities, countries, and other stakeholders, including with transboundary water management, promotes knowledge-sharing, harmonises the use of water resources, and ultimately augments the effectiveness of water governance. Additionally, increasing effective climate action and the protection of natural ecosystems will enhance the stability of the earth system and, thus, of water resources [20, 21].

Conclusions

         Ensuring the availability and accessibility of clean water to all, particularly in the face of ongoing climate change, is a key challenge moving forward. Access to sanitation systems and sufficient quantities of clean, quality water is paramount to human health and helps to fight diseases, including COVID-19. Prevention and investments in safely and sustainably managed water systems and sanitation facilities improve health and quality of life, besides contributing to a positive feedback in the economy for the health system. It is important to have this awareness and continue to develop technologies, form connections among various stakeholders, and engage in action in order to make progress towards the achievement of the targets of the SDG 6 for a universal and equitable access to water and sanitation systems.

References

[1] Bureau of Reclamation: Water Facts – Worldwide water supply

[2] Gall, A.M., Mariñas, B.J., Lu, Y., & Shisler, J.L. (2015). Waterborne Viruses: A Barrier to Safe Drinking Water. PLoS Pathogens, 11(6): e1004867

[3] United Nations: Goal 6 – Ensure access to water and sanitation for all

[4] United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Sustainable Development: Goal 6 – Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all

[5] World Health Organization: Sanitation Fact sheets

[6] Our World in Data: Clean water and sanitation

[7] World Health Organization: Water, sanitation and hygiene – exposure

[8] Kitajima et al. (2020). SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater: State of the knowledge and research needs. Science of The Total Environment 739: 139076.

[9] IPCC, 2014: Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Core Writing Team, R.K. Pachauri and L.A. Meyer (eds.)]. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 151 pp.

[10] Konapala, G., Mishra, A.K., Wada, Y. et al. (2020). Climate change will affect global water availability through compounding changes in seasonal precipitation and evaporation. Nature Communications 11: 3044.

[11] UN Summary Progress Update 2021: SDG 6 – Water and sanitation for all; 

[12] Benotti, M. J., Stanford, B. D., & Snyder, S. A. (2010). Impact of drought on wastewater contaminants in an urban water supply. Journal of environmental quality 39(4): 1196–1200.

[13] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Health Implications of Drought;

[14] Levy, B. S., & Sidel, V. W. (2011). Water rights and water fights: preventing and resolving conflicts before they boil over. American journal of public health, 101(5): 778–780.

[15] Erickson, T. B., Brooks, J., Nilles, E. J., Pham, P. N., & Vinck, P. (2019). Environmental health effects attributed to toxic and infectious agents following hurricanes, cyclones, flash floods and major hydrometeorological events. Journal of toxicology and environmental health. Part B, Critical reviews 22(5-6): 157–171.

[16] Yard, E. E., Murphy, M. W., Schneeberger, C., Narayanan, J., Hoo, E., Freiman, A., Lewis, L. S., & Hill, V. R. (2014). Microbial and chemical contamination during and after flooding in the Ohio River-Kentucky, 2011. Journal of environmental science and health. Part A, Toxic/hazardous substances & environmental engineering, 49(11): 1236–1243.

[17] Sun, R., An, D., Lu, W., Shi, Y., Wang, L., Zhang, C., Zhang, P., Qi, H., & Wang, Q. (2016). Impacts of a flash flood on drinking water quality: case study of areas most affected by the 2012 Beijing flood. Heliyon 2(2): e00071.

[18] McCluskey, J. 2001.Water supply, health and vulnerability in floods. Waterlines. 19(3): 14-17.

[19] Agarwal, A., de los Angeles, M. S., Bhatia, R., Chéret, I., Davila-Poblete, S., Falkenmark, M., Gonzalez-Villarreal, F., Jønch-Clausen, T., Aït Kadi, M., Kindler, J., Rees, J., Roberts, P., Rogers, P., Solanes, M. & Wright, A. (2000). Integrated Water Resources Management. GWP-TAC Background Papers (4). 43 pp.

[20] UNECE – Water and adaptation to climate change

[21] IUCN – Water and climate chance issues brief

The post The SDGs Series (Goal 6): Clean Water and Sanitation for all appeared first on Global Change Ecology.

Revisiting the concept of sustainability, which implies that EVERYONE’s needs should be met, makes one understand why in 2002 in the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation the first SDG was described as “the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development”. For universal sustainability, the well-being of humans, biodiversity and the planet as a whole should be ensured. Figure 1 below presents the progress that has been accomplished in regards to people living in extreme poverty. From year 1981 to 2015, there is a decline from 42.12% to 9.94% in the number of individuals living on less than $1.90 per day. At this very moment, there are still 8.4% of world’s population living in such conditions (UN, 2020), a percentage that accounts for over 700 million people.

Poverty is a complex problem that is influenced by different elements, and when taking all these other aspects into account – besides the “International Poverty Line” threshold – the situation can even worsen. According to the United Nations Human Development report on “The 2020 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI)”, currently, in 107 developing countries, 22% of their inhabitants live in multidimensional poverty. This means that there are 1.3 billion people in the world who are deprived from any of those three important life dimensions: health, education or standard living. The MPI is calculated based on a set of 10 indicators framed within the three aforementioned dimensions (You can check the table here). It emerges as a useful tool to monitor poverty and the progress for the achievement of the SDG1.

Another interesting tool to track the progress towards the “end of poverty in all of its forms everywhere” is the World Poverty Clock. The World Poverty Clock comprises a peer-review model with a dataset updated by November of 2020, that already considers the effects of the covid-19 pandemic on poverty. One of the highlights of this model is the free access to the tool on the website aforementioned. Anyone can do their own analysis, verify through graphs or maps which countries are on-track or off-track to meet the SDG1 by 2030 (Figure 2) and what are the numbers of individuals in poverty every year. It is also possible to make a comparison about the reality of each country, filter by gender and age, and soon there will be a geographical filter (rural and urban).

In 2030, the year when the SDGs are supposed to be met, the model presents that there will be still 565 million people living in extreme poverty. Sadly, this result is not so surprising. Prior to 2020, many countries were already off-track to achieve the SDG1 by 2030. However, the covid-19 pandemic has intensified the scarcities and hardships faced by millions across the world and has made it harder for people to try to escape poverty. As it is shown on Figure 3, after the pandemic millions of people were pushed back to poverty. More specifically, the UN statistical report (2020) estimates that the covid-19 pandemic will lead 71 million people into extreme poverty. Furthermore, covid-19 joins other ailments that often affect humans living in vulnerability, such as malaria, diarrhea and pneumonia. These are in some cases preventable, stemming from malnutrition, contaminated water and lack of hygiene and sanitation. According to the 2017 Unicef report on Child Mortality, one in thirty-six children dies in the first month due to preventable diseases in least developed countries. As we all know by now, washing our hands has a significant positive impact in our health; still, not everyone has access to clean water in this world, nor live in appropriate conditions.

Being in a place of vulnerability, individuals living in poverty are marginalized within the society and end up building their households in locations that are unsafe, making them more exposed to natural hazards. As climate change drives up the frequency of extreme events, droughts, floods, hurricanes and wildfires, it threatens people’s lives, their housing, and economic support. In developing countries, many marginalized communities live in unsteady structures, and rely on agriculture for their income and also for subsistence. It has been reported an economic loss measured up to $23.6 billions due to natural disasters; from those, 73% were in the agricultural sector and 16% in the housing sector (UN Stats, 2020). Climate change affects all social and economic sectors that structure this world’s way of living.

To end poverty in all of its forms everywhere is one goal, but it is not only related to one’s income or consumption power. Poverty is a humans’ rights issue, a health, an educational, and a climate matter. When one SDG is improved, several others are as well. It is a chain reaction! Interconnectivity is the key word to bring solution. More union between the nations, better governance and political willingness to aid and support local communities and vulnerable individuals is necessary. Enhancing economic growth in the least developing countries should be a target, as well as increasing accessibility to education, health and sanitation. As climate change and the pandemic aggravate the scenario for poverty, we should stand as one world and one people to turn these issues around, to help improve the current situation and mitigate damages. There are 17 SDGs, poverty eradication is the first – but there really is only one objective, and that is a better world to everyone from all the nations.

References:

Cuaresma, J.P. et al. (2018) – “Will the Sustainable Development Goals be fulfilled? Assessing present and future global poverty”. OpenAccess.

Max Roser and Esteban Ortiz-Ospina (2013) – “Global Extreme Poverty”. Published online at OurWorldInData.org. Retrieved from: ‘https://ourworldindata.org/extreme-poverty’

Reports:

Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, Report of the Secretary-General

SDG, United Nations 2020 – “Goal 1”

The 2020 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI)

The post The SDGs Series (Goal 1): End poverty in all of its forms everywhere appeared first on Global Change Ecology.