SDG 6 – to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all – is alarmingly off track. At the current rate of progress, the world will not reach the SDG 6 targets by 2030. Rates of progress dating back to 2000 show we have achieved on average 1% annual progress on expanding access to basic water supply and sanitation – however, at least 3% annual increases are needed just to ensure everyone has basic services by 2030, when SDG targets 6.1 and 6.2 are measured on the proportion of population using safely managed services. Of course, SDG 6 goes beyond provision of water supply, sanitation and hygiene services to include targets on water scarcity, water pollution, biodiversity and ecosystem protection, disaster risk reduction, leveraging water for peace, and water management that reflect the ever growing global pressures on our most precious and finite resource.
