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The establishment of the post-2015 development agenda and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the UN General Assembly points towards an integrated plan to tackle global challenges. A new paper by UNESCO’s International Hydrological Programme (IHP) advocates for an indicator on transboundary water cooperation that should be broad enough to reward also cooperative frameworks aimed at developing a sound system of exchange of information, and not only fully fledged IWRM systems.
 The last several years have seen a discernible shift in global priorities towards advancing the concept of sustainable development. In particular the establishment of the post-2015 development agenda and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the UN General Assembly points towards an integrated plan towards tackling global challenges. The goals seek to protect and improve five key areas of the world including people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnership. The intent of this paper is to emphasize the vital role that transboundary water cooperation plays in global development, and to map out the relationship that this cooperation has with the other goals.
Existing and emerging rules and institutions have been developed in international law to minimise, and where possible halt, negative consequences stemming from poor management of transboundary waters. SDG 6 provides for an important spotlight on improving water and sanitation, however for the context of global development it is crucial for water management to be interpreted and actionably combined with the other relevant SDGs, rather than curtailed as an individual entity. From direct linkages to indirect references, transboundary water cooperation is intrinsically connected to several other principles of sustainable development reflected in the goals and targets, including environment, energy, and food amongst others, and therefore must be viewed as an integral piece of global water management.
Furthermore, target 6.5 requires a set of two indicators in order to fully capture the importance of both integrated water resources management (IWRM) and transboundary water cooperation in the implementation of the SDGs. It is paramount that an indicator is retained solely for the transboundary water cooperation element embedded in target 6.5. This paper advocates for an indicator that should be broad enough to reward also cooperative frameworks aimed at developing a sound system of exchange of information, and not only fully fledged IWRM systems. This is particularly important in the context of transboundary aquifers governance, where many of the cooperative frameworks being discussed are at a very initial stage. The indicator can be reviewed throughout the implementation of the SDGs, especially in relation to the quantity and quality of the information that needs to be exchanged in order to meet the indicator. UNESCO-IHP and UNECE can play an important role, together with other members of UN Water, in monitoring this much needed indicator.
 Transboundary Water Cooperation and the Sustainable Development Goals
The paper is authored by Francesco Sindico, Director of the Strathclyde Centre for Environmental Law and Governance, Scotland, United Kingdom. The intent of this paper is to emphasize the vital role that transboundary water cooperation plays in global development, and to map out the relationship between goals.
SDG 6 provides for an important spotlight on improving water and sanitation, however for the context of global development it is crucial for water management to be interpreted and actionably combined with the other relevant SDGs, rather than curtailed as an individual entity.
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