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Progress on the level of water stress

Mid-term status of SDG Indicator 6.4.2 and acceleration needs, with special focus on food security, 2024









FAO & UN-Water. 2024. Progress on the level of water stress – Mid-term status of SDG Indicator 6.4.2 and acceleration needs, with special focus on food security. Rome, FAO. 



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    A disaggregation of indicator 6.4.2 “Level of water stress: freshwater withdrawal as a proportion of available freshwater resources” at river basin district level in Italy 2023
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    This report is the presentation of the methodology applied in Italy to spatially disaggregate the computation of the level of water stress from the national to the subnational scale (SDG indicator 6.4.2). Compared to the national assessment, which results in a low level of water stress in the country, the spatial disaggregation of the indicator by the hydrological unit highlighted the presence of basins affected by water stress exceeding 60 per cent (district of the Po river basin). The analysis was performed considering the long-term average of the available fresh water resources calculated on different reference periods (1951-2020, 1961-90, 1991-2020), and this put in evidence the impact of climate change on the level of water stress. This report is part of the series SDG 6.4 MONITORING SUSTAINABLE USE OF WATER RESOURCES PAPERS that collects all the achievements on SDG 6.4. The study was implemented by the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA), responsible for the model and data used to assess the total renewable freshwater resources, and the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), which has provided the methodology and the official statistics related to water withdrawals by economic sector (Agriculture, Services, and Industry). The study is the outcome of an agreement between FAO and ISPRA under the Integrated Monitoring Initiative for SDG 6 (IMI-SDG6), designed to produce a map of Italy showing the SDG indicator 6.4.2 “Level of water stress: freshwater withdrawal as a proportion of available freshwater resources” disaggregated at river basin district level. To learn more about the Integrated Monitoring Initiative for SDG 6, visit www.sdg6monitoring.org.
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    Book (stand-alone)
    Progress on the level of water stress
    Global status and acceleration needs for SDG indicator 6.4.2, 2021
    2021
    The global indicator on water stress tracks the level of pressure that human activities exert over natural freshwater resources, indicating the environmental sustainability of the use of water resources. A high level of water stress has negative effects on social and economic development, increasing competition and potential conflict among users. This calls for effective supply and demand management policies. Securing environmental flow requirements is essential to maintaining ecosystem health, resilient, and available for future generations. This indicator addresses the environmental component of target 6.4. In this report, you can learn more about the progress on the level of water stress globally, by country, and by major basin. More information and the methodological guidance can be found at: www.fao.org/sustainable-development-goals/ indicators/642 This report is part of a series that tracks progress towards the various targets set out in SDG 6 using the SDG global indicators. To learn more about water and sanitation in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the Integrated Monitoring Initiative for SDG 6, visit our website: www.sdg6monitoring.org
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    Water stress plugin for Water Evaluation and Planning system (WEAP)
    Using the water evaluation and planning tool for the calculation of Sustainable Development Goal indicator 6.4.2
    2024
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    This report presents the instruction manual of the new water stress plugin developed by FAO in collaboration with the Stockholm Environment Institute's U.S. Center (SEI) for the calculation of the SDG indicator 6.4.2 “Level of water stress: freshwater withdrawal as a proportion of available freshwater resources” by river basin.Since the indicator was introduced in 2015, it has been used widely to estimate the level of water stress experienced at the country or regional level. With this new plugin, countries will be able to assess SDG 6.4.2 at the basin and sub-basin levels providing a different and more hydrologically sound view on the dynamics of water resources and their use. The plugin allows exploring the spatial and interannual trends of the level of water stress within a basin avoiding any multiple counting of its freshwater resources and taking into consideration the needs of water supply of the different sections of the basin. By supporting the improvement of water monitoring and management, this report contributes to the achievement of SDG 6.

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