BRIEFING

UN Sustainable Development Goal 6

on clean water and sanitation (SDG 6)
EU support through focused action
SUMMARY
Freshwater is a vital yet scarce resource that is under increasing threat. Progress towards United
Nations Sustainable Development Goal (UN SDG) 6 (ensuring availability and sustainable
management of water and sanitation for all) is off track globally, and many of its targets will not be
reached by 2030. Access to freshwater and sanitation is alarmingly challenged in several African and
Asian regions. While for the most part the European Union (EU) has abundant freshwater compared
to other parts of the world, it is increasingly exposed to water stress in terms of frequency and areas
affected, with climate change predicted to further reduce water availability in some parts of its
territory. Pollution remains a major source of pressure on EU water bodies. Across the world, the
nefarious impact of climate change and pollution intensifies competition for scarce freshwater
resources. This results in occasional conflicts but also in initiatives for better-coordinated
management. Such initiatives serve as a powerful tool for the upward shift in gears pledged by the
UN member states, in particular at the UN World Water Conference held in March 2023.
EU legislation and supporting tools cover a wide range of issues relevant to the implementation of
SDG 6. Several EU environmental acts are now being revised to get them aligned with the European
Green Deal policy objectives, notably on pollution prevention, reduction and control. Those
revisions have the potential to propel the EU further towards the achievement of SDG 6. The
adoption of the EU Water Framework Directive inspired a number of third-country initiatives, and
the Convention on transboundary watercourses and lakes initiated in Europe in 1992 is now open
for accession to all UN member states. While striving for further progress at home, the EU supports
third countries in improving their access to freshwater, sanitation and hygiene services. The
European Parliament and other EU institutions repeatedly underline that access to water is a human
right and endeavour to harness this right in the EU's internal and external policies.

IN THIS BRIEFING
 Water in the world: An overview
 SDG 6 within the EU
 The EU's role in promoting SDG 6 abroad
 European Parliament's position

EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service

Authors: Vivienne Halleux and Eric Pichon; graphics: Eulalia Claros
PE 751.404 – July 2023
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EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service

Water in the world: An overview

Water covers more than two thirds of the Earth's surface, but easily accessible freshwater constitutes
less than 1 % of all water on Earth (see Figure 1). Access to freshwater is a key asset for human life
and wellbeing, with benefits for food security, health and even education and the economy at large
(see Figure 2). Although the UN General Assembly has recognised access to safe and clean drinking
water and sanitation as a human right, this access is increasingly challenged. The sixth of the UN
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (SDG 6), adopted in 2015, aims to 'ensure availability and
sustainable management of water and sanitation for all' by 2030. However, progress towards
SDG 6 targets is globally off track, with huge disparities at national and subnational level.
SDG 6 includes targets to improve access to freshwater and its quality, notably through better water
resources management.

Figure 1 – Freshwater: A small fraction of Figure 2 – SDG 6 has synergies with all other SDGs
all the Earth's water

Data source: USGS, 2019; World Bank and Nasa, Source: JRC, accessed 16 June 2023.
accessed 16 June 2023. SDG logos and list: https://sdgs.un.org/goals.

* Definitions
Renewable water resources – groundwater aquifers and surface water in bodies such as rivers and lakes –
are replenished by the water cycle unless they are over-exploited. Internal renewable water resources
denote the average annual flow of rivers and groundwater generated from endogenous (within a given
country) precipitation.
Aquifer: 1) a subsurface layer or layers of rock or other geological strata of sufficient porosity and
permeability to allow either a significant flow of groundwater or the abstraction of significant quantities of
groundwater; 2) layers of rock, sand or gravel that can absorb water and allow it to flow. An aquifer acts as
a groundwater reservoir when the underlying rock is impermeable. This may be tapped by wells for
domestic, agricultural or industrial use.

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Wetland is an area of land either covered by or saturated with water. The water is often groundwater,
seeping up from an aquifer or spring. A wetland's water can also come from a nearby river or lake. Seawater
can also create wetlands, especially in coastal areas that experience strong tides. Wetlands are important
for biodiversity: up to 40 % of the planet's species live and breed in them. They also purify water, protect
against flooding and improve the physical well-being of people in urban areas.
Water stress occurs when water demand exceeds the water available or when poor quality restricts its use.
Water stress causes deterioration of freshwater resources in terms of quantity (aquifer over-exploitation,
dry rivers, etc.) and quality (eutrophication, organic matter pollution, saline intrusion, etc.).
Water scarcity refers to a situation when water stress is caused by human-induced factors and when it has
a mid-term duration (typically several months), or occurs frequently. Water scarcity is determined primarily
by 1) water demand and consumption, largely depending on population and type of socio-economic
activities; 2) climatic conditions shaping water availability and seasonality of supply; and 3) landscape and
geological characteristics of the basins.
Integrated water resource management (IWRM) is a holistic approach to water use and management. It
therefore differs from the traditional and fragmented approach in which different sectors implement water
projects independently, often with overlapping responsibilities. It is a systemic and sustainable approach
to water resources management that takes into consideration the limited volume of water resources and
the negative impacts on them.
Sources: National Geographic and The Guardian (wetland); SIWI (IWRM); EEA (other definitions).

Water stress
Despite a rise in water use efficiency (SDG indicator 6.4.1), which improved globally by 9 % between
2015 and 2018, demographic growth and evolving consumption patterns have increased water
demand as follows: 15 % in the industrial sector, 8 % in the agricultural sector, 8 % in the services
sector. The level of water stress*,1 i.e. the average freshwater withdrawal as a proportion of
available resources (SDG indicator 6.4.2) rose by a mere 0.1 % globally between 2008 and 2018.
However, there are huge variations at regional level: for example, it decreased by 14 % in Europe
but rose by more than 15 % in south-eastern Asia (15.5 %) and in Latin America and the Caribbean
(15.4 %) and by more than 13 % in Africa (14.2 % in sub-Saharan Africa, 13.3 % in northern Africa).
The increase in demand is compounded by changes in the available amount of freshwater, resulting
from climate change impacts or direct human intervention such as wetland destruction (including
in Europe, where this was done primarily to create agricultural land in the 1950s). According to the
International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 6th assessment report, 'it is unequivocal that human
influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land. Widespread and rapid changes in the
atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere and biosphere have occurred'. The report goes on to say that
'Climate change-induced shifts in the distribution and event probabilities of water cycle variables
have occurred' in every region of the world. Unpredictability and increased variability in rainfall put
an additional strain on freshwater. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) notes that both
less-than-normal and above-normal discharges occur in several basins across the world – including
in Europe. One fifth of the world's water basins show a worrying increase or decrease in the area
covered by surface water in only 5 years (SDG indicator 6.6.1, 2015-2020). Both drought and
floods affect access to water, including by triggering population displacements.

Droughts are becoming more frequent and intense in Catalonia. Already in April 2023, reservoirs in the
region were running dry. This has led to restrictions on water use in Barcelona and other cities.

As a result, according to the WMO, '3.6 billion people face inadequate access to water at least a
month per year and this is expected to increase to more than 5 billion by 2050'. Countries most
affected by water stress often face a double challenge: shortage of water resources and lack of funds
to invest in water and sanitation infrastructure. The UN World Water Development Report 2023
(WWDR 2023) points out that 'in order to reach target 6.4 [Progress on Water-Use Efficiency], water
stress should not increase at a slower rate, but decrease'. A 2015 business-as-usual scenario predicts

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intense competition for water in about one third of the world's economies by 2030 (Figure 3).
Competition between uses can take different shapes: from competition between farmers, herders
and fishers, to competition between agriculture, energy and industry, to competition between
bottled and tap water.

Desalinisation makes seawater suitable for drinking and washing (for instance, this is done in Qatar, one of
the most water-stressed countries in the world – see Figure 3 above). However, it is energy-intensive and
the disposal of the resulting solution ('brine'), which has a high concentration of salt and various chemicals,
is harmful to aquatic life. Other projects include filtering wastewater for irrigation or recharging the
aquifers*; in Barcelona, the by-products of wastewater treatment (sewage sludge) are used to produce
biofuels for the city buses. Cutting-edge science can also help: the International Space Station has
recovered 98 % of the water it has brought on board, by treating and recycling astronauts' urine and sweat.

Figure 3 – Global ranking as per the 2030 Water Stress scenario

Data source: World Resources Institute, 2015.

NB: Colours show the expected withdrawals/available flow ratio in a business-as-usual scenario.

Access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene services

To reach universal coverage in basic drinking water, sanitation and hygiene services (WaSH) by 2030,
the progress rates would need to quadruple, according to World Health Organization (WHO) and
UNICEF estimates (SDG targets 6.1 Safe and affordable drinking water, and 6.2 Adequate and
equitable sanitation and hygiene). The lack of data makes it difficult to assess water quality (SDG
indicator 6.3.2) in poorer countries, and therefore difficult to address the drivers of poor water
quality. The way wastewater is managed (SDG indicator 6.3.1 – Wastewater treatment) can be
used as a proxy for water quality: data (available for 80 % of the world's population) show that
globally, 44 % of household wastewater is not properly collected and treated – with bad scores
ranging from 20 % to 75 % depending on the regions. Data on industrial wastewater are available
for only 32 countries; according to the WHO and UN Habitat, 'these limited data suggest that about
one third of total or industrial wastewater received treatment before discharge'.

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Figure 4 – People with access to household drinking water, sanitation and hygiene globally,
2015-2020, (%).

Data source: WHO and UNICEF.

Water resource management

'Nearly every water-related intervention involves some kind of cooperation' (WWDR 2023).

Low level of transboundary cooperation

Due to the interdependence between the types of water use and the various stakeholders,
improving progress towards better access for all to water resources – which are limited – can only
be achieved by greater cooperation, including in the form of international partnerships.
Cooperation between the various decision-makers and stakeholders with regard to a water resource
is often referred to as 'integrated water resource management'* (IWRM). Since 2017, most countries
have progressed, at a different pace, in IWRM implementation (SDG indicator 6.5.1). However, the
pace of progress in the four IWRM dimensions – enabling environment, institutions and
participation, management instruments, and financing – risks being insufficient to meet the target
in 2030, according to the latest UN report on IWRM progress (2021).
This is notably due to the lack of cooperation over basin or aquifer management, even within the
same country. The level of user or community participation (SDG indicator 6.b.1) is not
satisfactory (or not reported) in many countries. Cooperation at international level – measured by
SDG indicator 6.5.2 – is also lagging. While 153 countries share 286 transboundary river and lake
basins and 592 transboundary aquifer systems (60 % of the world's freshwater flows), the 2021 UN
report on transboundary water cooperation shows that bilateral or regional agreements provide for
the management of most transboundary river or lake basins in only 32 countries.

International conventions on transboundary watercourses

At multilateral level, the Convention on the protection and use of transboundary watercourses and
international lakes (Water Convention adopted in 1992, in force since 1996) binds the parties sharing
transboundary waters to negotiate agreements and to set up joint bodies to manage transboundary
waters. Initially negotiated at the wider European level, it is since 2013 open for accession to all UN
member states: Chad, Senegal, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau and Togo have since acceded to it.
In order to apply common norms to transboundary basins without an agreement and supplement
the existing bilateral and regional basin agreements, the UN General Assembly adopted the
Convention on the law of the non-navigational uses of international watercourses (UN Watercourses
Convention) in 1997. The convention entered into force in 2014. It codifies several principles, such
as equitable and reasonable utilisation, the obligation not to cause significant harm, and the

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protection of international watercourses during armed conflict. However, only 37 states are parties
to it and, more importantly, riparian countries of some major transboundary watercourses do not
have a consistent position regarding the convention. This therefore weakens the influence of the
Watercourses Convention in basins of rivers such as the Nile, the Euphrates and the Tigris, the
Ganges, the Brahmaputra, the Mekong, the Amazon, and the Uruguay Parana and Paraguay. By
contrast, riparian countries in Europe, North America, and southern Africa have been more
consistent in their positions.
Lack of cooperation has led to tensions escalating into military clashes between states sharing the
same basins and trying to secure their water needs at the expense of their neighbours. 2 Conflicts are
often linked to water being diverted for irrigation or industry or to practices related to the
management of water scarcity and floods (including through dams – see box below). Water
retention or contamination has also been used as a weapon of war, for example by Da'esh in Syria
and Iraq, and more recently by Russia in Ukraine.

Conflict and cooperation in relation to international waters

In July 2020, Ethiopia announced the completion of the first filling phase of the 74 000 million m³ Grand
Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile, without having obtained the prior consent pf
downstream Sudan and Egypt. When fully operational, the GERD hydropower plant will secure access to
electricity for the majority of Ethiopians. While Sudan hopes that the dam will give it access to cheap
electricity and prevent it from devastating floods, Egypt contends that filling and operating the GERD will
aggravate its already worrying level of water stress. Environmental scientists have shown that 'some give
and take can lead to shared benefits for Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan'. However, the three countries have not
succeeded in reaching an agreement: Ethiopia does not want strict guidelines to interfere with its
sovereignty as the owner of the dam, while Egypt and Sudan refuse to review a 1959 bilateral agreement
that ignores the current water needs of Ethiopia and other upstream countries. This situation clearly shows
that transboundary water management concerns not only resource allocation but also the very
foundations of nationhood.
By contrast, a carefully designed transboundary IWRM allows for a peaceful sharing of water resources, as
proven by the joint management of the Senegal River by Mali, Mauritania and Senegal. As part of their
cooperation, the three countries have set themselves broad development objectives, including ecosystem
preservation, food security, energy, and transportation. The river's joint management is based on a strong
decision-making system consisting of a Conference of Heads of State and Government, a Council of
Ministers and an executive High Commission.

In December 2016, as the world was not on track to achieve SDG 6, the UN General Assembly
launched the International Decade for Action on Water for Sustainable Development 2018-2028.
However, official development aid (ODA) to the water sector has been steadily decreasing in recent
decades: globally, ODA commitments to the water sector (SDG indicator 6.a.1) represented
nearly 7.6 % of ODA in 2012 but only 4.2 % in 2020. 3 In 2020, the SDG 6 Global Acceleration
Framework set guidelines to better coordinate UN agencies, funds and programmes with other
stakeholders, in order to help countries deliver:
 full funding on costed SDG 6 plans through 'Improved targeting, better utilization of
existing resources and mobilization of additional domestic and international funding';
 easily accessible high quality SDG 6 data;
 sustainable SDG 6 implementation enhanced by skilled staff;
 leverage for innovative practices;
 and efficient SDG 6 governance.

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SDG 6 within the EU

Policy framework
Compared with many parts of the world, Europe still has relatively abundant freshwater resources,
though not evenly distributed across the continent. About 88 % of Europe's freshwater use comes
from rivers and groundwater. The rest originates from reservoirs (about 10 %) and lakes (less than
2 %). Groundwater supplies 65 % of drinking water and 25 % of water for agricultural irrigation in
the EU-27. Existing legislation covers a wide range of issues relevant to the implementation of SDG 6.
Adopted in 2000, the Water Framework Directive (WFD) is the main EU legal instrument for water
protection. The WFD required all bodies of surface water – lakes, rivers, transitional and coastal
water – and groundwater bodies to achieve 'good' status by 2015, unless there were grounds for
exemption, with the maximum deadline being 2027. Achieving 'good' status means meeting
standards in terms of the ecology and chemistry of surface waters, and standards in terms of the
chemistry and quantity of ground waters. For surface waters, the EU has identified a list of priority
substances (i.e. pollutants that pose the greatest concern and risk to and via the aquatic
environment across the EU). For those substances, Member States must ensure that the
environmental quality standards set in the Environmental Quality Standards Directive are met in
order to achieve good chemical status in accordance with the WFD. Measures must be taken to
reduce the emissions, discharges and losses of priority substances into water, and to phase out those
of the most harmful ones ('priority hazardous substances'). Quality standards and measures to
prevent and control groundwater pollution are set out in the Groundwater Directive. The Nitrates
Directive, aiming to protect waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources,
and the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive, designed to protect the aquatic environment from
the negative effects of urban wastewater effluents, including eutrophication, support the
achievement of the WFD water quality objectives. In addition, several pieces of legislation regulating
chemicals at source, such as the REACH regulation on the registration, evaluation, authorisation and
restriction of chemicals, the Plant Protection Product Regulation, the Biocidal Product Regulation,
and during manufacture and use (the Industrial Emissions Directive and the Sustainable Use of
Pesticides Directive) are relevant to ensuring clean water supplies.
To preserve water resources, the EU adopted in 2020 a new Regulation to encourage and facilitate
water reuse. The regulation sets harmonised minimum water quality requirements for the safe reuse
of treated urban wastewater in agricultural irrigation; harmonised minimum monitoring
requirements; risk management provisions for possible health and environmental risks; and
permitting requirements. It also aims to ensure transparency, so that key information about any
water reuse project will be available to the public.
The Drinking Water Directive was revised in 2020. It includes, inter alia, updated water quality
standards; minimum hygiene requirements for materials in contact with water, such as pipes or taps;
new requirements to improve or maintain access to safe drinking water for all, particularly for
vulnerable and marginalised groups, and measures to address leakages in water supply networks.
The Bathing Water Directive (2006) is another important element of EU water legislation. It requires
Member States to monitor and assess bathing water for two parameters of faecal bacteria (intestinal
enterococci and E.coli) that indicate pollution from sewage and livestock breeding. Depending on
the levels of bacteria detected, water is classified as 'excellent', 'good', 'sufficient' or 'poor'. Where it
is 'poor', Member States should take certain measures, such as banning bathing or advising against
it, providing information to the public and taking suitable corrective actions.
Despite the progress achieved under existing EU legislation, water bodies remain subject to multiple
pressures, including pollution from nutrients and hazardous substances, over-exploitation, physical
alterations to water habitats and climate change. Most EU surface water bodies still struggle to meet
the good status prescribed in the WFD: currently, around 40 % of surface waters are in good

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ecological status or potential, and 38 % in good chemical status. A number of core strategies of the
European Green Deal contain targets relevant to water resources, including the 'farm to fork'
strategy, the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030, the new EU strategy on adaptation to climate change
and the zero pollution action plan. Several EU acts are currently being revised to bring them into
alignment with the European Green Deal's policy objectives. In particular, as part of the Green Deal's
zero pollution pillar, the co-legislators are discussing a Commission proposal to revise the lists of
surface water and groundwater pollutants that need to be monitored and controlled for the
purpose of protecting EU freshwater bodies, and the associated environmental quality standards.
Proposals to update the Urban Wastewater Treatment, Industrial Emissions and Sustainable Use of
Pesticides Directives, aimed to tackle at source pollution from households, industry and agriculture,
are also on the table.

Progress achieved
EU monitoring of progress towards SDG 6 focuses on three main aspects: sanitation, water quality
and water scarcity. The Europe Sustainable Development Report 2022 evaluated the progress made
by the EU towards SDG 6 as 'moderately increasing', with remaining challenges. The 2023 Eurostat
Monitoring Report shows that the EU has made further progress towards access to sanitation: the
share of the EU population without a bath, shower, or indoor flushing toilet in their household fell
from 2.2 % in 2015 to 1.5 % in 2020. The share of the population connected to secondary wastewater
treatment has been rising continuously since the early 2000s, jumping from 71.8 % in 2005 to 81.1 %
in 2020. However, there are persistent differences among the Member States, strongly linked to high
poverty rates, as regards levels of access to water services and sanitation, with four countries
reporting a relatively high share of people lacking access to basic sanitary facilities.
By contrast, trends in water quality, monitored through four indicators considering nutrients in
freshwater and bathing water quality, were described as mixed over the 5-year period assessed by
the Eurostat report mentioned above. On the one hand, improved wastewater collection and
treatment has helped reduce organic pollution in European rivers. On the other hand, pollution by
nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) remains a concern, although it has decreased since the 1990s.
According to the European Environment Agency (EEA), nutrient pollution is the main reason why
28 % of EU surface water bodies have failed to achieve good water quality. In some regions,
pollution of rivers with nutrients still contributes to severe eutrophication in coastal waters.
Furthermore, nitrates are the cause for the poor status of 18 % of groundwater bodies by area in
24 Member States. Bathing water pollution is mainly caused by sewage and water draining from
farmland. Over the past decades, the quality of bathing water in Europe has significantly improved,
owing notably to the systematic monitoring and management required under the EU Bathing Water
Directive, as well as to EU rules on urban wastewater treatment. In 2021, 78.2 % of EU inland water
bathing sites showed excellent bathing water quality, compared with 82.1 % in 2016 and 77.7 % in
2020. According to the latest data, this share increased to 79.3 % in 2022.
Developments regarding water scarcity* since the year 2000 have also been assessed by the
European Environment Agency (EEA) as mixed. While water stress is low in most EU countries, it
exhibits strong seasonal and local variability. However, EEA data show that water stress is becoming
more frequent and the affected areas are expanding in size. On average, about 20 % of the European
territory and 30 % of the European population are affected by water stress every year. Water scarcity
is more common in southern Europe, with around 30 % of its population living in areas with
permanent water stress, and up to 70 % in areas with seasonal water stress during summer. It
however also extends to river basins across the EU (particularly in western Europe), where water
scarcity arises from high population density in urban areas, combined with high levels of abstraction
for public water supply, energy and industry. Climate change is predicted to further reduce
freshwater resources* availability, mainly in southern, western and eastern Europe. It is also
expected to exacerbate the natural fluctuations in seasonal water availability. Current projections
suggest that a decrease in water scarcity by 2030 is rather unlikely.

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Agriculture, electricity production, industry and drinking water supply are the economic sectors that
depend most on water availability. Water reuse can help cope with water stress by reducing water
abstraction from rivers, lakes and groundwater. While over 40 000 million m3 of wastewater is
treated in the EU every year, only 2.4 % is further treated to be reused. According to the European
Commission, there is potential to reuse 6 times more treated water than current levels.
The Water Reuse Regulation, which seeks to facilitate the uptake of water reuse across the EU,
became applicable on 26 June 2023. So far, nine countries have decided to invoke its Article 2(2),
allowing a Member State to decide, based on specific criteria, that it is not appropriate to reuse water
for agricultural irrigation in its territory or parts of it. The practice is authorised in 12 countries. Some
Member States have not yet taken their final decision yet.

Latest legislative developments of relevance to SDG 6

Proposals currently on the table have the potential to bring the EU and its Member States forward
on the path towards achieving SDG 6. The proposed revision of the Urban Wastewater Treatment
Directive is expected to further reduce pollutants in EU waters, both by increasing the volume of
wastewater covered under the directive and by ensuring more wastewater is subject to advanced
treatment. The proposal includes a provision requiring Member States to promote the reuse of
treated wastewater from all urban wastewater treatment plants systematically. An obligation would
be imposed on Member States to improve access to sanitation for all, but particularly vulnerable and
marginalised groups. This measure would encourage the setting up of a sufficient number of freely,
safely accessible sanitation facilities in public spaces for all agglomerations of 10 000 inhabitants
and more by the end of 2027. Particular attention should be paid to the needs of women and girls.
The proposal on surface and groundwater pollutants is expected to result in lower levels of pollution
of drinking water sources, improved chemical quality of surface and groundwater, and an increased
proportion of water bodies with good ambient quality over time, as Member States would take
measures to reduce concentrations of pollutants. A provision, drawing on the lessons from the 2022
ecological disaster in the Oder river, is proposed as regards international cooperation on water
resources management, with the introduction of a mandatory 'warning clause' in the case of
significant pollution incidents in a shared river basin. The changes proposed in the revision of the
Industrial Emissions Directive (expanding the directive's scope, encouraging new technologies to
reduce emissions, improving resource efficiency, promoting water reuse, strengthening permitting
requirements, introducing a mandatory environmental management system) should also
contribute to the prevention and reduction of water pollution and better management of water
resources. The proposed regulation on the sustainable use of plant protection products would
require Member States to contribute collectively to achieving a 50 % EU-wide reduction in both the
use and risk of chemical pesticides and the use of more hazardous pesticides by 2030, as pledged in
the EU 'farm to fork' and biodiversity strategies. It would ban the use of all plant protection products
in and around 'ecologically sensitive areas', which encompass protected areas under the WFD,
including possible drinking water safeguard zones.

Funding in support of SDG 6

Various EU financing tools are available for SDG 6-related projects. The LIFE programme, the EU's
funding instrument for environmental and climate action, has funded 94 projects in support of
SDG 6 (including on wastewater treatment, water quality, river basin management and innovation)
worth a total of €231 million, since 2015. Funds under the 2023-2027 common agricultural policy,
Next Generation EU, and EU cohesion policy can also be mobilised for measures to protect the
natural environment, including water. Almost €13 billion of funding available under the 2021-2027
cohesion policy programmes is expected to be invested in water services and improved wastewater
collection and treatment. Horizon Europe, the EU's research and innovation programme, has been
allocating €1.15 billion to projects related to SDG 6 in 2021-2024. A recently launched project is the
'Partnership Water4All'. Co-funded by Horizon Europe, it brings together 81 partners from

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31 countries in the EU and beyond. The partnership, aimed at enabling water security for all in the
long term, covers seven research and innovation themes, including water for the circular economy,
water for ecosystems and biodiversity, sustainable water management, water and health, water
infrastructure, international cooperation on water, and water governance.

The EU's role in promoting SDG 6 abroad

The EU's 'internal' water policy has direct visible consequences on the EU's neighbours and beyond.
The first EU-level voluntary review on progress towards the SDGs (EUVR, 2023) finds, for example,
that EU wastewater treatment has improved the quality of the Black and Baltic Seas' waters, and that
'the 'removal of barriers in rivers has improved the conditions for migrating fish'. The EU Earth
observation programme (Copernicus) also informs third countries on the state of their water bodies.
In addition, the EU is involved in improving water management at multilateral and bilateral levels.
The EU's priorities for the UN World Water Conference 2023 (see box) were in line with the EU's
previous commitments to improve water security and management both within the EU and in third
countries, through actions focusing on: advocating for access to safe drinking water and sanitation
as a human right; protecting and restoring aquatic ecosystems; climate mitigation and adaptation;
promoting a more integrated approach to the management of water resources across sectors;
developing transboundary water cooperation; and mobilising public and private finance. Most of
these actions are streamlined in broader external policies, such as development cooperation, trade,
humanitarian action, human rights, or security. 4 For example, at the UN Water Conference, the EU
organised a side event on the circular economy – 'a key component of water-smart societies for a
water-resilient world' to promote a more efficient and cross-sector water management.

The UN Water cooperation mechanism and the UN World Water Conference

At the UN level, water issues are not dealt with by a full-fledged UN agency. Instead, the UN has put in
place a cooperation mechanism – UN Water – bringing together UN entities and other international bodies
dealing with water-related issues (among others: FAO, UN Habitat, the UN Environment Programme,
UNICEF, UNESCO, WHO, the World Bank and the World Food Programme). UN Water coordinates country-
level and UN-level SDG 6 reporting and support to countries. The UN Human Rights Council has mandated
a Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation since 2008.
UN Water provided technical advice to the organisers of the UN 2023 World Water Conference
(22-24 March), which had not taken place since 1977. The conference was the occasion of a mid-term
review of the International Decade for Action on Water for Sustainable Development 2018-2028. It resulted
in the Water Action Agenda, comprising more than 700 commitments from UN member states, multilateral
banks, NGOs and the private sector. Among its commitments for the Water Action Agenda, Team Europe1
pledged to contribute to transboundary water-management action (€1.1 billion) and support water-
related research (Horizon Europe 2021-2027: €400-500 million, Mediterranean area: €494 million).
However, analysts regret that not enough of the commitments made at the World Water Conference are
linked to clear monitoring or dedicated funding. Moreover, those commitments are not binding, and the
member states made no political commitments. This highlights the highly sensitive political nature of
water issues, involving matters of state sovereignty and transboundary disputes. The World Water
Conference has however created a momentum to take further action on SDG 6, under the possible impetus
of the UN Special Envoy on Water, a new post 'under consideration'.

On 19 November 2018, the Council conclusions on water diplomacy committed the EU to

promoting effective water governance in third countries and at international level. On 17 June 2019,
the Council approved the EU human rights guidelines on safe drinking water and sanitation. These
guidelines promote a rights-based approach to protect access to safe drinking water and sanitation
for all, through existing EU tools and instruments, such as bilateral dialogue with third countries,
development cooperation and humanitarian aid programmes, and support to human rights
defenders and communities in water and sanitation disputes. In its 19 November 2021 conclusions
on water in the EU's external relations, the Council expressed concern that SDG 6 'remains severely

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 UN Sustainable Development Goal 6 on clean water and sanitation (SDG 6)

off-track and under-financed' and reiterated its call 'for the issue of water to be given increased
emphasis in the EU's external action and in the UN agendas, in line with the SDG 6 Global
Acceleration Framework.

European Parliament's position

In its resolution of 15 June 2023 on the implementation and delivery of the sustainable development
goals, the Parliament reaffirmed that access to water and sanitation is a fundamental right, and that
improving this access is crucial for pursuing poverty eradication, social equality, public health, food
security, and sustainable development objectives. It recalled that, as the EU Water Framework
Directive recognises, water is not a mere commodity but a public good that is vital to human life
and dignity. Parliament stressed that water policies must prioritise the sustainable management of
rivers, lakes, wetlands*, springs and aquifers, and support sustainable water management in the
agricultural sector as key to confronting ongoing crises of pollution, deforestation, desertification,
biodiversity loss, and climate change. Parliament highlighted the potential risks of water grabbing
and water pollution in large-scale land acquisitions for agriculture and the extractive industries.
In its September 2022 resolution on the consequences of drought, fire, and other extreme weather
phenomena, Parliament called on the Commission to present a comprehensive EU water strategy -
including the organisation with Member States of a European water conference. The aim would be
to rapidly develop guidelines on the management of transnationally shared river basins, and to
ensure a balanced prioritisation between water uses. The Commission was also asked to coordinate
the development of regional or national plans 'from well to final use' in order to tackle water leakage
and seepage due to low-quality or poorly maintained infrastructure, including at basin, urban and
farm level. Parliament also called upon the Commission to support increased Member State efforts
to increase the use of water reuse techniques, water-saving irrigation technologies and practices,
green roof technologies, smart showers and toilets, in the water sector, including supply, sanitation
and storm water management, and across all industrial, residential and commercial water cycles and
applications. Parliament called for amending current legislation to encourage the reuse of water in
water-intensive industries while respecting the strictest quality criteria, as well as in offices and
homes by reusing grey water. The Parliament recalled that water management is of crucial
importance to minimising the negative effects of climate change, protecting water and food
security and biodiversity, and supporting healthy soils. Parliament also stressed that improved water
efficiency can have a direct impact on the reduction of energy consumption and climate change. It
underlined the need to involve citizens in water management; and encouraged Member States to
take measures to ensure access to water intended for vulnerable and marginalised groups and take
further action to ensure the provision of tap water. It recalled Member States' obligations to ensure
the human right to drinking water, particularly during heat waves and periods of drought. To ensure
fair access to water and good water resource management, it insisted on preventing speculation
with water, and called for a ban on trading water as a commodity on financial markets.
In its 2020 resolution on the implementation of EU water legislation, Parliament rejected any
attempt to treat water as a commodity, and deplored the implications of the commodification of
nature, which opens up essential public goods to speculation and denies the universal right to their
use. It suggested that droughts and water scarcity be addressed by prioritising the abstraction of
water for the production of drinking water over other uses, in order to ensure the fulfilment of the
human right to water, and by implementing solutions to collect rainwater and flood waves for later
use. Parliament noted an urgent need for improvement in the area of pollution by chemicals, and
called on the Commission to take all necessary measures in order to achieve good chemical status.
On the external aspects, the 15 June 2023 resolution on the implementation and delivery of the
sustainable development goals reaffirmed that access to water and sanitation is a fundamental
right, and that improving this access is crucial for pursuing poverty eradication, social equality,
public health, food security, and sustainable development objectives. In its resolution of
5 October 2022 on access to water as a human right – the external dimension, Parliament reaffirmed

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the right to safe drinking water and sanitation as a human right, and as an essential precondition for
public health and human development. It emphasised that the recognition of the right to water and
sanitation must be enforced by strong mechanisms, including at international level, and by
protecting the rights of indigenous peoples, 5 women and girls, and their defenders. It notably called
businesses not to interfere with this right when carrying out their activities. The Parliament also
condemned the use of water as a weapon of war and called for fair access to water in all occupied
territories. Finally, Parliament highlighted the need to reinforce integrated water resources
management, taking into account humanitarian, development and peacekeeping aspects.
MAIN REFERENCES
Progress towards SDG 6, in the United Nations World Water Development Report 2023: Partnerships and
cooperation for water. UN Water, UNESCO, 2023.
Goal 6: Clean water and sanitation, KnowSDGs platform, European Commission's Joint Research Center,
accessed 4 July 2023.
EU voluntary review on the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, European
Commission, 2023.
Sustainable development in the European Union: Monitoring report on progress towards the SDGs in an
EU context – 2023 edition, European Commission, Eurostat, 2023.

ENDNOTES
1
Words followed by an asterisk are explained in the Definitions box at the beginning.
2
These include: the Nile River, and specifically the dispute over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD, see box
in the text); the Indus River, between India and Pakistan; the Aral Sea – dramatically shrunk due to the diversion of
water for irrigation purposes during the Soviet era and afterwards – in Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan,
Turkmenistan, and Kyrgyzstan); the Mekong River, which runs through six countries in southeast Asia, being used to
generate hydroelectricity at a high environmental cost; the Jordan River Basin between Jordan, Israel, Palestine, and
Syria; the shrinking Lake Chad, a 'Gordian knot of problems'; and the Colorado River between Mexico and six US States.
3
Aid redirection from water to other sectors has been accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic, but began before it.
4
This is seen as more effective than trying to replicate the successes in European watercourses management, as this
approach had mixed results in the past: The EU Water Initiative (EUWI, 2002) which aimed at helping third countries
develop and implement integrated water resources management was partly inspired by the EU Water Framework
Directive. EUWI was promoted through regional components, such as MED EUWI (Mediterranean), EUWI Africa and
EUWI EECCA (Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia). However, Med EUWI and EUWI Africa were phased out in
2016, maybe due to a lack of significant results. EUWI-EECA was prolonged into the EUWI Plus for Eastern Partnership
Countries (EUWI+, 2016-2021).
5
The Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation points out that globally, 'lack of
access to safe drinking water and sanitation disproportionately affected indigenous women and girls'.

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