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Book (series)Technical studyWater 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
2024This 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. -
Book (stand-alone)Technical bookProgress on the level of water stress
Global status and acceleration needs for SDG indicator 6.4.2, 2021
2021The 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 -
Book (series)Technical studyIncorporating environmental flows into “water stress” Indicator 6.4.2
The role of the environmental management class in the estimation of environmental flow requirements
2025Also available in:
No results found.The environmental flows concept entered water management discussions in the mid to late 20th century after extensive dam construction led to large scale obstruction of free-flowing rivers and a noticeable loss of ecosystem services and natural habitats and biodiversity. In 2019 FAO published guidelines to incorporate environmental flows into the calculation of water stress using the Global Environmental Flows Information System, which provides an estimation of the environmental flows at a global level using the incident biodiversity threat index to estimate the environmental management class for the present day. Understanding the concept of environmental management class and learning how to determine it is needed to assess the environmental flow and to calculate the level of water stress, so being crucial to manage water resources sustainably while allowing enough water for human needs. In water resource planning and management, environmental flow is often represented as a percentage of annual flow when calculating the annual indicator for water stress. In fact, there is no single amount or percentage of water that can describe the environmental flows of a river, since the ecological and hydrological context should always be considered in its complexity. This paper is addressed to river basin managers, environmental engineers and river ecologists. It complements the 2019 FAO guidelines by describing how the condition of the ecosystem as defined by the environmental management class influences the estimation of environmental flows, and illustrates how the environmental management class can be determined for a given branch of a river.
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Book (stand-alone)High-profileStatus of the World's Soil Resources: Main Report 2015
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No results found.The SWSR is a reference document on the status of global soil resources that provides regional assessments of soil change. The information is based on peer-reviewed scientific literature, complemented with expert knowledge and project outputs. It provides a description and a ranking of ten major soil threats that endanger ecosystem functions, goods and services globally and in each region separately. Additionally, it describes direct and indirect pressures on soils and ways and means to combat s oil degradation. The report contains a Synthesis report for policy makers that summarizes its findings, conclusions and recommendations.The full report has been divided into sections and individual chapters for ease of downloading:
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Book (series)FlagshipThe State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2020
Transforming food systems for affordable healthy diets
2020Updates for many countries have made it possible to estimate hunger in the world with greater accuracy this year. In particular, newly accessible data enabled the revision of the entire series of undernourishment estimates for China back to 2000, resulting in a substantial downward shift of the series of the number of undernourished in the world. Nevertheless, the revision confirms the trend reported in past editions: the number of people affected by hunger globally has been slowly on the rise since 2014. The report also shows that the burden of malnutrition in all its forms continues to be a challenge. There has been some progress for child stunting, low birthweight and exclusive breastfeeding, but at a pace that is still too slow. Childhood overweight is not improving and adult obesity is on the rise in all regions.The report complements the usual assessment of food security and nutrition with projections of what the world may look like in 2030, if trends of the last decade continue. Projections show that the world is not on track to achieve Zero Hunger by 2030 and, despite some progress, most indicators are also not on track to meet global nutrition targets. The food security and nutritional status of the most vulnerable population groups is likely to deteriorate further due to the health and socio economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.The report puts a spotlight on diet quality as a critical link between food security and nutrition. Meeting SDG 2 targets will only be possible if people have enough food to eat and if what they are eating is nutritious and affordable. The report also introduces new analysis of the cost and affordability of healthy diets around the world, by region and in different development contexts. It presents valuations of the health and climate-change costs associated with current food consumption patterns, as well as the potential cost savings if food consumption patterns were to shift towards healthy diets that include sustainability considerations. The report then concludes with a discussion of the policies and strategies to transform food systems to ensure affordable healthy diets, as part of the required efforts to end both hunger and all forms of malnutrition. -
Book (stand-alone)High-profileState of knowledge of soil biodiversity - Status, challenges and potentialities
Report 2020
2020Also available in:
No results found.There is increasing attention to the importance of biodiversity for food security and nutrition, especially above-ground biodiversity such as plants and animals. However, less attention is being paid to the biodiversity beneath our feet, soil biodiversity, which drives many processes that produce food or purify soil and water. This report is the result of an inclusive process involving more than 300 scientists from around the world under the auspices of the FAO’s Global Soil Partnership and its Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative, and the European Commission. It presents concisely the state of knowledge on soil biodiversity, the threats to it, and the solutions that soil biodiversity can provide to problems in different fields. It also represents a valuable contribution to raising awareness of the importance of soil biodiversity and highlighting its role in finding solutions to today's global threats.