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Measuring Progress: Water-related Ecosystems and the SDGs
Summary
This report from the Measuring Progress series examines how water-related ecosystems are performing against the Sustainable Development Goals, exploring connections between water ecosystem health and broader sustainable development outcomes. Progress is uneven globally, with many water ecosystems under increasing pressure from pollution and climate change. Microplastic contamination of freshwater ecosystems is part of this wider water quality challenge.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) framework were constructed to interlink economic, environmental and social dimensions. The importance of achieving sustainability relies on understanding the synergies and trade-offs between implemented actions and the actions that may hinder or empower them. The Measuring Progress series explores the relationship between environmental indicators and economic or social indicators. This third edition of the Measuring Progress report focuses on statistical methods to understand these interlinkages through the prism of water ecosystems and the SDGs. In so doing, it provides insight into how freshwater- and marine-related ecosystems are impacted by various drivers, pressures, and actions, through use of statistical analysis.
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