FAO statement at HLPF session on SDG 6 and interlinkages with other SDGs – Water and sanitation

Excellencies, distinguished delegates, colleagues,

• Thank you for convening this dialogue at a decisive moment.
• Water is becoming the defining resource challenge of our time. It underpins food production, energy, economic growth, and healthy ecosystems. Yet progress on SDG 6 is lagging. At current rates, the world will not achieve safely managed water and sanitation for all by 2030. Progress would need to accelerate.
• Today, 2.4 billion people live in water-stressed countries. Floods and droughts are becoming more frequent and more severe. Rivers, lakes, and aquifers are under increasing pressure while access to water remains deeply unequal.
• These challenges cannot be solved by one sector alone.
• The Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystems nexus and Integrated Water Resources Management offer practical approaches to managing competing demands. Yet neither will succeed unless agriculture is part of the solution. Agriculture accounts for 72 percent of global freshwater withdrawals. It is therefore where better water management can have the greatest impact. Behind that figure are hundreds of millions of farmers, herders, and irrigators - the people who make water decisions every day on every continent.
• Three priority actions deserve greater attention.
• First, improve water productivity across agrifood systems. The objective is not simply to use less water, but to produce more food, improve livelihoods, and protect water resources.
• This requires better planning, better technologies, and reliable data. FAO supports Members in informing sound policies and investments through global data tools and monitoring platforms, including AQUASTAT and WaPOR. Members are already using this data to target irrigation investments where returns - in food and water - are highest.
  Second, invest in resilience before crises deepen. Expand rainwater harvesting and storage, wastewater reuse, drought-resilient crops, and efficient irrigation systems. This will help countries manage increasing climate variability while protecting food production.
• Third, strengthen inclusive water governance systems at the decision-making level. Farmers, pastoralists, women, youth, and Indigenous Peoples have meaningful roles in the sustainable management of water. Secure and equitable water access is not only a matter of fairness-it is essential for productivity, resilience, and long-term stewardship.
• Water connects every sustainable development goal. But if we want faster progress, we must overcome siloed thinking and focus on where the greatest opportunities lie. Better water management in agriculture is one of them.
• FAO will continue to work with Members to advance integrated solutions for better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, leaving no one behind.
• Thank you.