Mid-term Status on SDG 6 Indicators: 6.3.2, 6.5.1, & 6.6.1 (2024)

United Nations 2 years ago

Water is vital to human and planetary health and the internationally agreed goals that back it, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the Sendai Framework and the Paris Agreement. Yet the triple planetary crisis – the crisis of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss and pollution and waste – is affecting the availability, distribution, quality and quantity of water. Despite water being essential for human health, food security, energy supplies, sustaining cities, and ecosystems and on the front lines of the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution, SDG 6 is alarmingly off-track. For most of the SDG 6 Indicators, the current rate of progress is not fast enough to close the gap before 2030. In some cases, progress is even relapsing. The new mid-term status reports for SDG 6 indicators: 6.3.2, 6.5.1, and 6.6.1 found that if the priorities under SDG 6 are to be achieved by 2030, action on these indicators needs to be accelerated four times faster. These priorities can be ensured if adequate investments are made towards institutions, infrastructure, information, and innovation, where concerted action and institutional coherence is required, and new ideas, tools, and solutions are developed that draw from existing knowledge and indigenous practices. Working with partners within the framework of the UN-Water led Integrated Monitoring Initiative for SDG 6, UNEP officially launched reports, in August 2021, on the three SDG 6 indicators for which it is custodian. These indicator reports are: SDG 6.3.2 – Progress on Ambient Water Quality with a special focus on Health SDG 6.5.1 – Progress on the Implementation of Integrated Water Resources Management with special focus on Climate Change SDG 6.6.1 – Progress on Water-related Ecosystems with a special focus on Biodiversity A key underlying message from these reports is that existing efforts to protect and restore water-related ecosystems must be urgently scaled up and accelerated. Progress Reports can also be found on UN-Water's SDG 6 Progress Reports page
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layersDaily Sustainability Digest

Published about 11 hours ago



The UK construction sector is undergoing a structural transformation as sustainability becomes integral to policy and practice. Government planning reforms embedding environmental sustainability in construction within the promise of 1.5 million new homes indicate that sustainable building design and eco‑design for buildings are no longer peripheral ambitions. By linking planning approval to detailed whole life carbon assessments and life cycle cost reviews, developers must now demonstrate measurable progress toward net zero whole life carbon housing delivery.

The shift toward circular economy in construction principles is tangible through mandatory Circular Economy Statements, which require proof of resource efficiency in construction and end‑of‑life reuse in construction. This marks a decisive move from voluntary reporting to quantifiable performance, reinforcing circular construction strategies that favour low carbon construction materials, renewable building materials and verified environmental product declarations (EPDs). Such accountability is reshaping how embodied carbon in materials and the total carbon footprint of construction are assessed across the supply chain.

Technical progress is matched by regulatory tightening. Enhanced enforcement by environmental authorities signals that compliance with carbon neutral construction standards and reduced environmental impact of construction is now a prerequisite for planning success. As breeam v7 and emerging lifecycle assessment frameworks evolve, decarbonising the built environment depends on integrating sustainable building practices with verifiable performance metrics.

Investment in human capital remains the defining constraint. The urgent demand for skilled labour in low‑carbon engineering and advanced manufacturing highlights the labour market’s pivotal role in achieving net zero carbon buildings and delivering scalable green construction. Training initiatives targeting welders, surveyors and engineers must underpin the expansion of low carbon building capacity and ensure that sustainable urban development can progress from aspiration to built reality.

The emerging consensus is that sustainable construction is defined by data‑driven outcomes—measured building lifecycle performance, accurate whole life carbon accounting and achievable carbon footprint reduction. The sector’s credibility hinges on whether policy, technology and people can sustain this momentum toward a resilient, low‑impact built environment.

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