SDG 6 - Clean Water and Sanitation



Clean Water and Sanitation
Authors:
Akshat Khandelwal
Ashok George
Krishna Agarwal
Pranav Bhatt
Shshank Pandey
Virag Shah

 Group 6, Section C, PGDM (BM) 2019-21

  


Introduction: 

Clean Water and Sanitation or more commonly referred to as SDG 6 is often considered a core SDG which connects either directly or indirectly to other SDG’s[1]. Increasing drought and desertification across the globe has increased the water stress in many countries and by 2050, it is projected that one in every four individuals will face acute water shortage. Agriculture is the largest water consumer globally, accounting for 69% of water used. Industries and households together account for another 31%. However, these sectors are also the largest polluters of freshwater resources, with improper sanitation and waste disposal mechanisms. SDG 6 encompasses 8 global targets that each government can incorporate into its policies, planning processes etc based on national capacities and priorities. The situation is even more worrisome in sanitation and hygiene, with only 1 in 10 countries below 95% coverage for access to sanitation and open defecation free on track to achieve this coverage by 2030. In 2018, around 892 million people still practice open defecation, of which 90% were based in rural areas. Huge chunk of these people resides in Central and South Asia, along with a sizeable chunk in sub-Saharan Africa. Even though we have come a long way in increasing improved water drinking source from 76% to 91% of the population, each day nearly 1000 children die due to preventable water and sanitation related diseases[2][3]. 
Relevance to India:
Every year tens of millions of people, especially children, die from diseases associated with contaminated water, hygiene and sanitation. From 1995, the population having access to improved drinking water has increased from 76% to 91%; however, nearly 1000s of children die due to avoidable sanitation and contaminated water-related diseases.
In India, the percentage of the population having access to improved water sources increased from 68% in 1992 to 89.9 in 2015. However, the condition of sanitation in India was in a pitiful state, with 63% rural households and around 20% of urban households using below par sanitation facilities. Inadequate sanitation facilities have a more severe impact on children as it gives rise to diseases like cholera, typhoid, diarrhoea resulting in chronic illness, malnutrition and various physical disorders. In India, diarrhoea, the second largest contributor to the global disease burden, caused the death of more than 2 million infants, accounting directly for 12.6 % of child mortality.
 In India, high rates (50%) of open defecation is one of the main determinants for the high standards of sanitation-related illnesses. The pathway taken by the Indian Government is limited to constructing toilets throughout India and giving access to clean sanitation facilities to every Indian Citizen. GOI has introduced Swachh Bharat Abhiyan for a cleaner India, National Drinking Water Programme and Namami Gange to conserve Ganga and other rivers. The most pressing issues in front of the Government are affordability, low water consumption, sustainability, easy instalment, less maintenance, and availability of a wide variety of technologies to resolve the sanitation problem. 
Using the technologies like E-toilet, GARV Toilet, Eco-friendly Two Pit Pour-Flush Compost Toilet, RCC Affordable Toilet Technology, EcoSan Model, Bio-gas linked toilet, Precast Textile Reinforced Concrete (TRC) based Toilet, Bio-toilets etc. - Swachh Bharat Abhiyan has made 71% households in India Open Defecation Free. 
One of the other techniques used by the Government is to instigate social innovation. In the case of sanitation, social innovation is more about generating the willingness to choose hygiene at the household level. One of the main difficulties in adoption of sanitation is lack of communication as the talk of toilets feels taboo and carries a negative stigma in society. Behavioural change through communication campaigns, information, and communication (IEC) methods, display of photographs/images related to individual and community hygiene, street plays with the script created in folk language related to sanitation and hygiene habits may sensitize the community[4].
Business Implications and Responses:
Businesses around the globe are starting to step up and adopt commitments to the SDGs. In fact, 82 out of 100 blue chip companies have announced either explicitly or implicitly through their actions in meeting the commitments to the SDGs by 2030. In a survey among business owners, for the next 10 years, water crisis and non-potable water is the highest risk with 40% of the respondents believing this SDG to impact their business the most. Given the importance attributed to this SDG by businesses worldwide and the far-reaching implications for businesses it is imperative that businesses adapt the way they do business. To this end there are multiple suggested responses which companies can adopt. Some major ones are listed below:
1.       Focus on Operational Water Efficiency: In industries which are water intensive such as agriculture, steel mills, pulp and paper etc, businesses should focus on implementing best in class systems to curb water usage and wastage. This is of importance in areas which are prone to water scarcity and droughts.
2.       Wastewater Treatment: Most industries produce some form of liquid waste. However, lax implementation of government regulation and high cost of viable and safe water treatment solutions are proving an impediment to safe disposal of effluents from industries. This has given rise to a plethora of humanitarian issues of late such as the water crisis in Flint, Michigan which was caused due to lead contamination due to improper treatment of water
3.       Educating employees and customers: The major stakeholders of any organization are the employees who work for them and the customers they serve. Employees should be educated about the importance of water efficiency and be driven to pursue processes which ensure it. This can be ensured by incentivizing them by linking bonuses to efforts on water conservation. Customers on the other hand must be communicated about the efforts they can put in to minimize water use during the usage of consumer products.
Many global corporations have taken this mantle of water conservation and are working actively to ensure their operations are in adherence with the goals of this SDG. For e.g.
1.       Proctor & Gamble: Through its Children’s Safe Water Drinking Program P&G has collaborated with ~150 NGOs around the world over the last 10 years in improving children’s health through enhancing access to clean water[5].
2.       Cargill Inc.: The world largest agri-business corporation has installed ~150 rainwater harvesting systems in Mexico partnering with Isla Urbana a Mexican NGO. Since 2017 it has also been working towards ensuring safe water and sanitation access in 2 provinces of Indonesia[6]
3.       GAP Inc.: To address the problem of effluent discharge into water bodies, it is working towards ensuring Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) in its supply chain by 2020 through setting up an industry collaboration named ZDHC 2020.
4.       Nestle:  Nestle follows the “do not harm” principle and actively supports access to water in the communities around its operations. They have been working with business associations and NGOs like the International Red Cross to improve safe water and sanitation in its supply chain[7].
5.       The Coca Cola Company: Coca Cola have baked water stewardship into its sustainability strategy and aim to replenish water back to nature and communities. They aim to return 100% of the water used in finished beverages to nature and communities by 2020 and achieve a 25% improvement in water efficiency since 2010. It has also invested ~124M$ in water, sanitation and hygiene projects[8].
6.       Tata Steel: Closer to home, Tata Steel has been discouraging the use of groundwater in its operations and is working on developing alternate water resources for industrial and human use within its operations. It aims to beat industry benchmarks and achieve specific water consumption of less than 3 m3/tcs by 2025. Additionally, during the Village Immersion program, we witnessed Tata Steels’ Water ATMs setup in villages around the Noamundi mine area[9].
7.       Bechtel: The largest construction company in the US during its foray into mining in the Atacama desert in Chile decided to set up a water desalination plant and pump water up to an elevation of ~10000ft instead of completely relying on groundwater at the mine freeing up water for downstream users
Analysis and Path Ahead:
There is a broad consensus among the business community about the need to act on the issues around SDG6. Most companies are cognizant of the problems water stress could cause on their operations and business models and are actively trying to mitigate against these risks through targeted programs.
However, significant investments are further needed to ensure that the goals of SDG 6 are achieved. Infrastructure funding required to achieve these targets are estimated to be as high as $45B per year with the private sector expected to contribute the lion’s share of this[10].
To achieve this target, corporations should work on baking sustainable practices into its overall strategy and align corporate priorities to the goals of SDG 6 to better engage with all the stakeholders involved in its business. They need to work on identifying new business models, products and services that drive progress towards these goals. As we draw closer to the timelines of the SDG, it is expected that markets will expand and grow, new markets will emerge, and consumer bases will grow[11].
Finally, investments into SDG 6 can unlock significant opportunities beyond the goals of the SDG. The water sector has not witnessed any major innovations in the last few decades and continued investments in this space has the potential to create hitherto unheard-of technological solutions which may pose a significant business opportunity for companies at the forefront of this innovation[12].
Conclusion
SDG 6 is one of the most important SDGs due to the potential it has in impacting the lives of billions of people and the way major corporations do business around the world. To this end there has been significant traction from governments in bringing about policy changes and setting up humanitarian initiatives which have for the most part yielded positive results.
Corporations on the other hand have begun to recognise the importance of this SDG on their survival and are starting to bake in initiatives to achieve the goals outlined by the SDG into their strategy. They are also transitioning into implementing concrete measures such as process changes into their supply chains to reduce their dependence on existing water resource.
The future for the SDG seems bright however the transition is going to be difficult. We expect that as more attention and investments continue in this space, the goals of the SDG can be achieved.


[1] https://in.one.un.org/page/sustainable-development-goals/sdg-6/

[2] https://sdg.iisd.org/sdgs/goal-6-clean-water-sanitation/

[3] https://niti.gov.in/writereaddata/files/Report_SDG-6_v1.pdf

[4] https://papers.globelics.org/article/sdg-6-in-india-challenges-and-innovation-for-sustainable-sanitation/

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