Proposal for a National Blueprint Framework to monitor Progress on Water-related Sustainable Development Goals in Europe

“The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) underpinned by 169 targets presents national governments with huge challenges for implementation. We developed a proposal for a National Blueprint Framework (NBF) with 24 water-related indicators, centered on SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation for all), each with a specific target. We applied the NBF to 28 EU Member States (EU-28) and conclude that:
(1) The current SDG 6 indicators are useful for monitoring progress towards water-related targets but their usefulness can be improved by focusing more on their practical implementation.
(2) The extension of SDG 6 with complementary indicators (e.g. for the circular economy of water) and quantitative policy targets is urgently needed. This will benefit the communication process and progress at the science-policy interface.
(3) SDG indicators can be improved in a SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) manner and by setting clear policy targets for each indicator, allowing for measuring Distance-to-Targets. This allows country-to-country comparison and learning, and accelerates the SDG implementation process.
(4) We propose 24 water-related indicators centered on SDG 6, with complementary indicators including quantitative policy targets. The approach is doable, easily scalable, and flexibly deployable by collecting information for the EU-28.
(5) Main gaps in the EU-28 are observed for water quality, wastewater treatment, nutrient and energy recovery, as well as climate adaptation to extreme weather events (heat, droughts and floods).
(6) The framework was less successful for non-OECD countries due to lack of data and EU-centric targets for each indicator. This needs further research.”

(Citaat: Essex, B., Koop, S.H.A., van Leeuwen, C.J. – Proposal for a National Blueprint Framework to monitor Progress on Water-related Sustainable Development Goals in Europe – Environmental Management 65(2020)1, p.1-18 – DOI: 10.1007/s00267-019-01231-1 – (Open Access))

(Submitted to Environmental Management; Status accepted with minor revisions. Revisions provided on 10-10-2019. Formally still under review; EMVM-D-19-00713R (5 November 2019))