The economy is the foundation of the current life model as it is conceived in today’s global support system. With varying degrees of sophistication, it is ultimately the generation of goods and services for consumption and the payment by consumers that integrates into the production model to receive income that allows them to pay for these goods and services.
Additionally, states provide other coverages for which citizens pay through taxes based on their overall income, an imperfect model that tries to redistribute wealth and avoid specific social imbalances.
It’s important to remember that the 2030 agenda, a highly ambitious project, was born out of concerns about the planet’s inequality gap. It sets forth challenges to ensure no one is left behind, all while balancing the demands of economic development and the sustainability of our planet.
As society has been conceived since the Industrial Revolution, well-being and balanced distribution are supported by regular, stable, and sustainable economic growth over time. This requires a safe environment for long-term investments and government policies with forward-looking visions.
Until a few decades ago, this sustainable growth was hardly questioned, but population growth has accelerated since the late 20th century, increasing from 4.4 billion people in 1980 to 7.4 billion today. Moreover, our life expectancy has increased from 50 years in 1960 to 73.4 today, and our well-being index has improved, demanding new living standards.
The current production model, which is highly demanding, has not been accompanied by responsible consumption. This imbalance is putting our natural resources, which have so far guaranteed production, at risk. It’s crucial that we, as consumers, understand our role in this imbalance and take measures to adapt. If we do not, specific geographies will become critical factors for future development.
Undoubtedly, one of these critical factors is water as a fundamental resource in our way of life. To date, we have not yet guaranteed a safe and quality supply to more than a quarter of the population. Adapting to new consumers while ensuring supply for the production of goods for the industrial and agricultural sectors, which account for 90% of demand, is a significant and complex challenge.
Hence, SDG 6 is now planned as a limiting objective for economic development.
This resource is vital for a wide range of economic sectors, including agriculture, industry, tourism, and energy. Safe and sustainable access to water boosts productivity and facilitates the production of goods and services.
However, economic growth can also have severe and irreversible effects on seemingly inexhaustible resources like water. In turn, the deterioration of its quality, untreated discharge, or scarcity reduces economic growth. We are discussing a sensitive and interdependent link between water and the economy.
Responsible consumption, a source of sustainable economic growth
In the global challenges we face, only the availability and quality of water, its good management, and sustainability will determine our societies’ future and economic stability at local, national, and global scales.
In SDG 8, “decent work and economic growth,” this resource plays a transversal role in various aspects contributing to its achievement. Governments must build dynamic, sustainable, innovative, and people-centered economies to promote youth employment and the economic empowerment of women, particularly decent work for all. Efficient water resource management is critical to promoting long-term sustainable economic growth through practices that include protecting supply sources, conserving freshwater and marine ecosystems, and implementing efficient use in production processes through unconventional water solutions. Additionally, access to drinking water and sanitation is essential for workers’ health. A healthy workforce is more productive and can contribute more effectively to economic growth.
Moreover, responsible consumption advocated by SDG 12 has become a cornerstone for transforming economic development into sustainable development. This approach implies that consumers, businesses, and governments opt for practices and products that minimize environmental impact and promote social equity without sacrificing economic viability. Adopting business models like the circular economy is vital to maximize reuse and foster cooperation between the public and private sectors.
Innovation, the door to change
Water infrastructures are fundamental for the development and well-being of any society. In fact, their aging and the resulting leaks are relevant problems for everyone, aggravating the already-existing scarcity of this resource.
Therefore, investment in water infrastructure is essential for sustainable development, resilience to natural disasters, and the general well-being of society.
Moreover, today, we have technology that helps us generate new water resources, “New Water,” through the desalination of non-potable brackish aquifer water and seawater and the regeneration of water from our treatment plants for industrial and agricultural uses. This water replaces potable water from our lakes, rivers, or aquifers, allowing us to reserve it for new generations or maintain ecological environmental thresholds.
As SDG 9 states, innovation is indispensable. Therefore, it is crucial in the water sector to address challenges related to this vital resource’s availability, quality, and sustainable management. The water sector has been unable to maintain investment levels in technology due to its limited available resources and narrow margins that barely cover incurred costs. A model change is required to advance innovation and access new technologies to continue transforming how we manage, generate new resources, and use water, contributing to greater sustainability and efficiency in using this essential resource.
The recovery of the manufacturing industry after the COVID-19 pandemic remains incomplete and uneven. Global manufacturing growth slowed to 3.3% in 2022, from 7.4% in 2021. Progress in least-developed countries (LDCs) is far from sufficient to meet the target of doubling the share of manufacturing in GDP by 2030. However, medium-high and high-tech industries showed strong growth rates.
In this context, to achieve growth percentages, it is vital to build a robust water network where advanced technologies allow efficient treatment and expanded reuse, as well as membrane filtration, desalination, and the use of renewable energies in processes. Water used in the industry must be treated and reused in other stages of the same process or in other sectors, such as agriculture. It is essential to invest in technologies to implement practices that allow efficient water use, such as smart irrigation systems in the agricultural sector and saving equipment in industry and households, as well as promote the circular economy and reduce waste.
Water, the lever for achieving the SDGs
Economic growth drives innovation and the development of technologies for more efficient water use and provides financial resources to invest in increasingly sustainable water infrastructures.
In a world of finite and limited resources, only through innovation and the latest technology, which is increasingly cleaner, can transformation occur and, therefore, improvement and achievement of the global challenges we face. Innovation will ensure the fulfillment of Sustainable Development Goal 6, water and sanitation, which will be the lever to achieve all of them.
