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SDG 6.4.1 Change in water use efficiency over time - no data available at national level.
Information on the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) SDG Indicators Data Portal gives the definition of SDG Indicator 6.4.1 as:
Water Use Efficiency (WUE) at national level is the sum of the efficiencies in the major economic sectors weighted according to the proportion of water withdrawn by each sector over the total withdrawals.
SDG 6.4.1 measures changes in WUE and has been designed to address the economic component of SDG Target 6.4:
"By 2030, substantially increase water use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity and substantially reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity".
Water use efficiency is defined as the value added in US dollars per volume of water withdrawn in cubic metres, by a given economic activity over time. It considers water use by all economic activities, with a focus on agriculture, industry and the service sector.
The indicator allows countries to assess to what extent their economic growth depends on the use of their water resources. Regional differences in climate and water availability must be considered in the interpretation of this indicator, in particular for agriculture.
According to the UN SDG Indicators Database, SDG 6.4.1 data for Ireland shows that the water use efficiency target is met and the trend shows an improvement from the baseline year, $251.50 USD in 2015 to $280.53 USD in 2022. The water use efficiency values for industry in 2022 was $358.58 USD, and $250.90 USD for the services sector. See Table 5.1 and Figure 5.1.
SDG 6.4.2 Level of water stress: freshwater withdrawal as a proportion of available freshwater resources - the CSO Environment and Climate & Energy division report water resources, water abstraction figures and environmental flow requirements. The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations then derives the SDG 6.4.2 from this data. The water abstraction figures the CSO reported to FAO were based on the Environmental Protection Agency's water abstraction register. While not all abstractions are required to register, an estimated 99% of the volume abstracted in Ireland has been registered.
Information on the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) SDG Indicators Data Portal gives the definition of SDG Indicator 6.4.2 as:
The level of water stress: freshwater withdrawal as a proportion of available freshwater resources is the ratio between total freshwater withdrawn by major economic sectors and total renewable freshwater resources, after taking into account environmental water requirements.
This indicator is also known as water withdrawal intensity and will measure progress towards SDG Target 6.4.
Target 6.4 is: By 2030, substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity and substantially reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity.
The FAO SDG Indicators Data Portal states that areas with values <=25% are not being assessed since this value is identified as the upper limit for a safe water stress.
Water stress in Ireland was 8.28% in 2021. This means that the total freshwater withdrawal was 8.28% of renewable freshwater resources less environmental flow requirements. Total freshwater withdrawal was 1.58 billion cubic metres while total renewable freshwater resources was 52.0 billion cubic metres and environmental flow requirements was 32.9 billion cubic metres. See preliminary figures in Table 5.2.
SDG 6.5.1 Degree of integrated water resources management implementation (0-100) is reported to the UN Environment Division by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.
The SDG indicators metadata repository provides the following definition in the SDG 6.5.1 metadata document:
Indicator 6.5.1 is ‘degree of integrated water resources management implementation’. It measures the stages of development and implementation of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), on a scale of 0 to 100, in six categories. The indicator score is calculated from a country survey with 33 questions, with each question scored on the same scale of 0-100.
The definition of IWRM is based on an internationally agreed definition, and is universally applicable. IWRM was officially established in 1992 and is defined as “a process which promotes the coordinated development and management of water, land and related resources in order to maximise economic and social welfare in an equitable manner without compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems."
Data for this indicator is collected by the UN Environment Division by way of a survey questionnaire. Ireland's submission for this questionnaire is completed by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) website has information for Ireland’s Report 2023.
The questionnaire has been designed to also be useful as a simple diagnostic tool for countries to identify strengths and weaknesses of different aspects of IWRM implementation. It measures implementation in incremental steps, which allows countries to identify barriers and enablers to furthering IWRM.
The survey contains four sections, each covering a key dimension of IWRM:
The degree of Integrated Water Resources Management Implementation (IWRM) in 2020 was 87%. IWRM is a process which promotes the co-ordinated development and management of water, land and related resources, in order to maximize the resultant economic and social welfare in an equitable manner without compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems.
The highest score was 90% for enabling environment section, which is about creating the conditions that help to support the implementation of IWRM.
The lowest score was 82% for the financing section which concerns the adequacy of the finance available for water resources development and management from various sources. See Table 5.3.
Full details of footnotes in relation to this table and IWRM scoring are available in the background notes.
SDG 6.5.2 Proportion of transboundary basin area with an operational arrangement for water cooperation is reported by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.
The SDG indicators metadata repository provides the following definition in the SDG 6.5.2 metadata document:
Indicator 6.5.2 tracks the percentage of transboundary basin area within a country that has an operational arrangement for water cooperation.
An arrangement for water cooperation is a bilateral or multilateral treaty, convention, agreement or other formal arrangement between riparian countries that provides a framework for cooperation.
For the arrangement to be considered operational, the following criteria need to be fulfilled:
According the United Nations SDG Indicators Database, in 2020, the proportion of transboundary basin area with an operational arrangement for water cooperation was 100% for Ireland. See Table 5.3.
SDG 6.6.1 Change in the extent of water related ecosystems over time, tracks changes to water-related ecosystems (lakes, rivers, wetlands, groundwater). The indicator incorporates satellite-based earth observations data. Data is validated by the EPA against their own methodologies and datasets. This methodology is not routinely applied by state agencies in Ireland so it was not possible to validate the data directly.
The SDG indicators metadata repository provides the following definition in the SDG 6.6.1 (a) metadata document:
SDG indicator 6.6.1 tracks the extent to which different types of water-related ecosystems are changing in extent over time. The indicator is multifaceted capturing data on different types of freshwater ecosystems and to measure extent change the indicator considers spatial area changes, water quality and water quantity changes. The indicator uses satellite-based earth observations to globally monitor different freshwater ecosystems types.
More detailed methodology information is available in the UN SDG 6.6.1 metadata document and earth observations data has been made available on the SDG661 app. Users can freely access, visualize and download national, sub-national and basin level statistics on different types of water-related ecosystems.
Data on the UN SDG global database shows that in the time period 2015-2022 the lakes and rivers permanent water area went from 752.9km2 to 897.7km2. In the same time period the area for lakes and rivers seasonal water area went from 89.2km2 to 165.7km2. See Table 5.5.
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