Sida's work with sustainable sea and water resources
Water is a prerequisite for all life on earth but our aquatic resources and marine and freshwater ecosystems are under increasing pressure. Sida works to ensure that the world’s water resources are managed and used in a sustainable and equitable manner.
Progress has been made
Decreased emissions of pollutants
Emissions of pollutants into the world’s seas and oceans has decreased in some places. An example is Kaliningrad, where treatment plants contribute to water treatment in the Baltic Sea region. Asian countries have adopted action plans to reduce marine litter in Southeast Asia.1
Wastewater is taken care of
Wastewater is increasingly seen as a resource. Industries are under increasing pressure to purify wastewater. The water is used for cooling, heating, in toilets, for irrigating crops or for washing vehicles.2
Improved shared water resources
Cooperation on shared water resources in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and North Africa has improved.
Challenges remain
Water scarcity is a challenge
Nearly a third of the world’s population lives in areas with water scarcity.3 The scarcity is exacerbated by climate change leading to drought in many places.
Consequences of climate change and unsustainable fishing
As the temperature rises, the sea’s ability to provide food and income from tourism deteriorates, as well as its ability to protect coastlines. At the same time, illegal fishing, which often causes ecosystems to collapse, continues. This results in food shortages and increased poverty.
Increasing pollution
Quantities of pollutants and plastics in watercourses and oceans continue to increase. Tens of millions of people risk their health. Pollution has increased in almost all rivers in Latin America, Africa and Asia since the 1990s. More and more untreated wastewater is being discharged into the world´s oceans.4
Sida's work with sustainable sea and water resources
Over three billion people are entirely dependent on marine and coastal ecosystems and biodiversity for their survival, for food or employment.5 Of them, about one billion have fish as their primary source of protein.
But oceans, seas, lakes and streams are important for everyone. They produce oxygen and regulate the climate by storing greenhouse gases. A large proportion of all animals and plants are found in or near water.
Oceans, seas, lakes and rivers are hard hit both by the effects of climate change and by emissions, pollution and overfishing. The pressure on the earth’s freshwater resources is increasing, which reduces people’s access to water during certain seasons. It affects agriculture, industries and people’s livelihoods, but also hydropower and fishing.
Every body of water on earth is part of a closed system and they therefore affect one another. A large part of the pollutants that end up in the sea are transported there from lakes, rivers, watercourses and wetlands. During their journey, they affect important ecosystems and biodiversity in and along watercourses.
As the earth´s population is increasing, so is demand for water. This requires us to use water more efficiently and to manage our resources more sustainably. The increasing occurrence of drought and flooding strikes hard against people living in poverty.
60 percent of the world’s water resources are shared between at least two countries.6 Conflicts over water often arise, given that watercourses have no interest in politically drawn national borders.
Sida co-founded the Global Water Partnerships (GWP) network in 1996 together with the World Bank and the UNDP. GWP is a network of approximately 3,000 organizations in 178 countries. In 2020, GWP supported the work with 17 investment plans, strategies and budget commitments for water resource management. Support has been given to Niger’s work to coordinate the development and management of water and land. Coordination aims at maximising economic and social well-being without compromising vital ecosystems.
Water scarcity is a major problem in the Jordan Valley due to dwindling rainfall and rapidly growing population fuelled by refugees from the war in Syria. Through the NGO EcoPeace Middle East, Sida supports the programme Good Water Neighbours, which educates young people in how they are affected by and can influence the sharing of water resources. After training, the young people return to their communities to share their knowledge locally. This exchange also contributes to peacebuilding and increases the likelihood of compliance with water treaties.
About Good Water Neighbours on the EcoPeace Middle East website
When several countries share the same water resources, conflicts may arise. Through the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) and UNDP, Sida is supporting the Shared Waters Partnership (SWP), that reinforces and facilitates dialogue between countries that share water resources. One of the most important objectives of the cooperation is to create platforms that bring together all parties in areas where water is, or may become, a source of conflict.
About Shared Water Partnership on the Water Governance Facility web page
Often there are no working ways to manage water resources shared by more than one country. Sida supports several projects to support cooperation between countries that share water courses. The support to the Mekong River Commission has led to better conditions for using and managing one of Asia’s largest rivers in a sustainable way. Sida’s support for the World Bank’s fund Cooperation in International Waters in Africa has contributed to international water cooperation in sub-Saharan Africa. The work has reached about 27 million people.
The pollution of oceans and watercourses is an enormous problem in many parts of the world. Tens of millions of people are in the risk zone for health problems related to contact with contaminated surface water. Land-based human activities account for 80 percent of marine pollution.7 Eutrophication, in combination with climate change, creates oxygen deficient dead zones on the seafloor.
Plastic accounts for 85 percent of all marine litter, corresponding to 11 million tonnes per year.8 If nothing is done, the amount of plastic waste is expected to triple by 2040. Sida contributes to the UN Environment Program UNEP’s administration of 13 regional marine programs. Since 1974, countries have been working together to reduce marine pollution, use marine resources in a sustainable way and to make regional marine programs more effective.
In recent decades, industrial fishing has increased. This has led to depletion and many fish stocks being threatened. Sida supports several players in sustainable fishing. One example is the Swedish Maritime Administration, which has contributed to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) being able to map out how fishermen, fish farmers, fish processing companies and sellers can have better conditions. The support also strengthens the role of women in the fisheries sector, as women are often in the majority in sales and processing. In collaboration with the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Trade Organization (WTO), progress has been made in eliminating harmful fisheries subsidies.
The World Bank’s ProBlue works for more sustainable fisheries management, among other things by developing methods for assessing the status of fishing, counteracting harmful fisheries subsidies and the litter of plastics in the oceans, both globally and regionally in Asia and West Africa.
Sida’s development cooperation improves marine environments and promotes the sustainable management and use of water resources and aquatic ecosystems. This work is governed by a number of strategies such as the Strategy for Sweden’s global development cooperation in the areas of environmental sustainability, sustainable climate and oceans, and sustainable use of natural resources 2018-2022, as well as various regional and country strategies.
- COBSEA on the UNEP website
- Wastewater as a resource on the UNWater website
- Water scarcity on the UNWater website
- Report on water and sanitation on the UNWater webpage
- Oceans and seas on the UN webpage
- Shared water resources on the UNECE website
- Landbased pollution on the UNEP website
- Marine litter on the UNEP webpage
Updated: December 29, 2021