This document provides an overview of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with a focus on Goals 6 and 7 related to water and energy. It describes the political process that led to establishing the SDGs and outlines the targets and indicators for Goals 6 and 7. Details are given on calculating several of the indicators for Goals 6 and 7, and it notes ongoing work to align SDG indicators with the UN System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) framework.

2. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
GOALS
Alessandra Alfieri, United Nations Statistics Division

3. Content
• Sustainable Development Goals—broad overview
• Sustainable Development Goal 6 on Water
• Sustainable Development Goal 7 on Energy
• SEEA in support of Sustainable Development Goals

4. BROAD OVERVIEW

5. The political process
1992: Agenda 21 (Rio)
2002: World Summit on Sustainable
Development
2012: The Future we Want (Rio+20)
2015: Sustainable Development Goals

6. SDG Indicators

7. GOAL 6 ON WATER

8. Goal 6-Targets and indicators
Target Indicator
6.1 By 2030, achieve universal and equitable
access to safe and affordable drinking water for
all
6.1.1 Proportion of population using
safely managed drinking water services
6.2 By 2030, achieve access to adequate and
equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end
open defecation, paying special attention to the
needs of women and girls and those in
vulnerable situations
6.2.1 Proportion of population using
safely managed sanitation services,
including a hand-washing facility with
soap and water
6.3 By 2030, improve water quality by reducing
pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing
release of hazardous chemicals and materials,
halving the proportion of untreated wastewater
and substantially increasing recycling and safe
reuse globally
6.3.1 Proportion of wastewater safely
treated
6.3.2 Proportion of bodies of water with
good ambient water quality

9. Goal 6-Targets and indicators
Target Indicator
6.4 By 2030, substantially increase water-use
efficiency across all sectors and ensure
sustainable withdrawals and supply of
freshwater to address water scarcity and
substantially reduce the number of people
suffering from water scarcity
6.4.1 Change in water-use efficiency over
time
6.4.2 Level of water stress: freshwater
withdrawal as a proportion of available
freshwater resources
6.5 By 2030, implement integrated water
resources management at all levels, including
through transboundary cooperation as
appropriate
6.5.1 Degree of integrated water resources
management implementation (0–100)
6.5.2 Proportion of transboundary basin
area with an operational arrangement for
water cooperation
6.6 By 2020, protect and restore water-related
ecosystems, including mountains, forests,
wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes
6.6.1 Change in the extent of water-related
ecosystems over time

10. Goal 6-Targets and indicators
Target Indicator
6.a By 2030, expand international cooperation
and capacity-building support to developing
countries in water and sanitation-related
activities and programmes, including water
harvesting, desalination, water efficiency,
wastewater treatment, recycling and reuse
technologies
6.a.1 Amount of water- and sanitation-
related official development assistance
that is part of a government coordinated
spending plan
6.b Support and strengthen the participation of
local communities in improving water and
sanitation management
6.b.1 Proportion of local administrative
units with established and operational
policies and procedures for participation
of local communities in water and
sanitation management

11. Details on 6.3
𝐼𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟 6.3 =
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑠 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑤𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑦
• Numerator should include at least primary, secondary and tertiary treatment
• IRWS contains the relevant details on the data items
• Breakdown by ISIC

12. Details on 6.4.1
𝐼𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟 6.4.1 =
𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑢𝑠𝑒
𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑐 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡
• Total Water Use is the sum of water abstraction across economic activities plus water that is
received from foreign economic units.
• Value added from national accounts
• Breakdown by ISIC

13. Details on 6.4.2
𝐼𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟 6.4.2 =
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑊𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑊𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑑𝑟𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑙
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑅𝑒𝑛𝑤𝑒𝑤𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑊𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑅𝑒𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑠
• Total renewable freshwater resources (TRWR) are expressed as the sum of internal and external
renewable water resources
• Total water withdrawal can be broken down by ISIC sectors; this in and of itself can be used to
track water use by sectors over time

14. GOAL 7 ON ENERGY

15. Goal 7-Targets and indicators
Target Indicator
7.1 By 2030, ensure universal access to
affordable, reliable and modern energy services
7.1.1 Proportion of population with access
to electricity
7.1.2 Proportion of population with
primary reliance on clean fuels and
technology
7.2 By 2030, increase substantially the share of
renewable energy in the global energy mix
7.2.1 Renewable energy share in the total
final energy consumption
7.3 By 2030, double the global rate of
improvement in energy efficiency
7.3.1 Energy intensity measured in terms
of primary energy and GDP

16. Goal 7-Targets and indicators
Target Indicator
7.a By 2030, enhance international cooperation
to facilitate access to clean energy research and
technology, including renewable energy, energy
efficiency and advanced and cleaner fossil-fuel
technology, and promote investment in energy
infrastructure and clean energy technology
7.a.1 International financial flows to
developing countries in support of clean
energy research and development and
renewable energy production, including
in hybrid systems
7.b By 2030, expand infrastructure and upgrade
technology for supplying modern and
sustainable energy services for all in developing
countries, in particular least developed
countries, small island developing States and
landlocked developing countries, in accordance
with their respective programmes of support
7.b.1 Investments in energy efficiency as a
proportion of GDP and the amount of
foreign direct investment in financial
transfer for infrastructure and technology
to sustainable development services

17. Details on 7.2.1
𝐼𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟 7.2.1 =
𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑤𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑠
𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
• Renewable energy consumption includes consumption of energy derived from: hydro, solid
biofuels, wind, solar, liquid biofuels, biogas, geothermal, marine and waste.
• Total final energy consumption is calculated from national balances and statistics as total final
consumption minus non-energy use.

18. Details on 7.3
𝐼𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟 7.3 =
𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑜𝑚𝑦
𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑐 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡
• Total energy supply is comprised of production plus net imports minus international marine and
aviation bunkers plus-stock changes
• Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the measure of economic output

19. Aligning with the SEEA
• There is ongoing work to align SDG indicators with the SEEA
• Focus is on the 2020 Comprehensive Review

20. Integrated architecture for SDGs
Integrated monitoring for the SDGs
requires methodological
consistency.
The SEEA can be the basis for:
1. The development of coherent
environmental-economic SDG
indicators
2. The disaggregation of SDG
indicators to inform national
policy (spatial, sectoral, etc.)

21. THANK YOU
seea@un.org