Obscuring complexity and performing progress: unpacking SDG indicator 6.5.1 and the implementation of IWRM
At a rhetorical level, the SDGs provide a unified global agenda, and their targets and indicators are believed to drive action for social and environmental transformation. However, what if the SDGs (and their specific goals and indicators) are more of a problem than a solution? What if they create t...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | Inglés |
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Water Alternatives Association
2024
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/149358 |
| _version_ | 1855517901069484032 |
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| author | Mdee, A. Ofori, A. D. Cohen, J. Kjellén, M. Rooney, E. Singhal, S. Amezaga, J. Ankush Figueroa-Benítez, A. Gupta, S. Haile, Alemseged Tamiru Haileslassie, A. Kongo, V. Kumar, A. Noguera, S. A. M. Nagheeby, M. Noor, Z. Z. Polaine, X. Singh, N. Sylvester, R. Wan Ahmad Tajuddin, W. A. N. Yusop, Z. B. Zúñiga-Barragán, J. |
| author_browse | Amezaga, J. Ankush Cohen, J. Figueroa-Benítez, A. Gupta, S. Haile, Alemseged Tamiru Haileslassie, A. Kjellén, M. Kongo, V. Kumar, A. Mdee, A. Nagheeby, M. Noguera, S. A. M. Noor, Z. Z. Ofori, A. D. Polaine, X. Rooney, E. Singh, N. Singhal, S. Sylvester, R. Wan Ahmad Tajuddin, W. A. N. Yusop, Z. B. Zúñiga-Barragán, J. |
| author_facet | Mdee, A. Ofori, A. D. Cohen, J. Kjellén, M. Rooney, E. Singhal, S. Amezaga, J. Ankush Figueroa-Benítez, A. Gupta, S. Haile, Alemseged Tamiru Haileslassie, A. Kongo, V. Kumar, A. Noguera, S. A. M. Nagheeby, M. Noor, Z. Z. Polaine, X. Singh, N. Sylvester, R. Wan Ahmad Tajuddin, W. A. N. Yusop, Z. B. Zúñiga-Barragán, J. |
| author_sort | Mdee, A. |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | At a rhetorical level, the SDGs provide a unified global agenda, and their targets and indicators are believed to drive action for social and environmental transformation. However, what if the SDGs (and their specific goals and indicators) are more of a problem than a solution? What if they create the illusion of action through a depoliticised and technical approach that fails to address fundamental dilemmas of politics and power? What if this illusion continues to reproduce poverty, inequality, and environmental degradation? This paper addresses these questions through a focus on SDG 6.5.1 – the implementation of integrated water resources management (IWRM), measured on a 0-100 scale through a composite indicator. The paper presents an empirical analysis of SDG 6.5.1 reporting in Colombia, Ethiopia, India, Malaysia, and the UK, drawing on research from the Water Security and Sustainable Development Hub.1 An evidence review and series of expert interviews are used to interrogate the local politics of IWRM measurement, specifically three dilemmas of global composite indicator construction: (1) reductive quantification of normative and contested processes; (2) weak analysis of actually existing institutional capability, politics, and power; and (3) distracting performativity dynamics in reporting. The paper concludes that SDG 6.5.1 is an example of a 'fantasy artefact', and that in all countries in this study, IWRM institutions are failing to address fundamental and 'wicked' problems in water resources management. We find little evidence that these numbers, or the survey that gives rise to them, drive meaningful reflection on the aims or outcomes of IWRM. Instead, they tend to hide the actually-existing political and institutional dynamics that sit behind the complexity of the global water crisis. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace149358 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| publishDateRange | 2024 |
| publishDateSort | 2024 |
| publisher | Water Alternatives Association |
| publisherStr | Water Alternatives Association |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1493582025-12-08T09:54:28Z Obscuring complexity and performing progress: unpacking SDG indicator 6.5.1 and the implementation of IWRM Mdee, A. Ofori, A. D. Cohen, J. Kjellén, M. Rooney, E. Singhal, S. Amezaga, J. Ankush Figueroa-Benítez, A. Gupta, S. Haile, Alemseged Tamiru Haileslassie, A. Kongo, V. Kumar, A. Noguera, S. A. M. Nagheeby, M. Noor, Z. Z. Polaine, X. Singh, N. Sylvester, R. Wan Ahmad Tajuddin, W. A. N. Yusop, Z. B. Zúñiga-Barragán, J. integrated water resources management sustainable development goals goal 6 clean water and sanitation indicators political aspects water governance water management institutions case studies At a rhetorical level, the SDGs provide a unified global agenda, and their targets and indicators are believed to drive action for social and environmental transformation. However, what if the SDGs (and their specific goals and indicators) are more of a problem than a solution? What if they create the illusion of action through a depoliticised and technical approach that fails to address fundamental dilemmas of politics and power? What if this illusion continues to reproduce poverty, inequality, and environmental degradation? This paper addresses these questions through a focus on SDG 6.5.1 – the implementation of integrated water resources management (IWRM), measured on a 0-100 scale through a composite indicator. The paper presents an empirical analysis of SDG 6.5.1 reporting in Colombia, Ethiopia, India, Malaysia, and the UK, drawing on research from the Water Security and Sustainable Development Hub.1 An evidence review and series of expert interviews are used to interrogate the local politics of IWRM measurement, specifically three dilemmas of global composite indicator construction: (1) reductive quantification of normative and contested processes; (2) weak analysis of actually existing institutional capability, politics, and power; and (3) distracting performativity dynamics in reporting. The paper concludes that SDG 6.5.1 is an example of a 'fantasy artefact', and that in all countries in this study, IWRM institutions are failing to address fundamental and 'wicked' problems in water resources management. We find little evidence that these numbers, or the survey that gives rise to them, drive meaningful reflection on the aims or outcomes of IWRM. Instead, they tend to hide the actually-existing political and institutional dynamics that sit behind the complexity of the global water crisis. 2024-06 2024-07-31T21:05:54Z 2024-07-31T21:05:54Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/149358 en Open Access Water Alternatives Association Mdee, A.; Ofori, A. D.; Cohen, J.; Kjellén, M.; Rooney, E.; Singhal, S.; Amezaga, J.; Ankush; Figueroa-Benítez, A.; Gupta, S.; Haile, Alemseged Tamiru; Haileslassie, A.; Kongo, V.; Kumar, A.; Noguera, S. A. M.; Nagheeby, M.; Noor, Z. Z.; Polaine, X.; Singh, N.; Sylvester, R.; Wan Ahmad Tajuddin, W. A. N.; Yusop, Z. B.; Zúñiga-Barragán, J. 2024. Obscuring complexity and performing progress: unpacking SDG indicator 6.5.1 and the implementation of IWRM. Water Alternatives, 17(2):391-414. (Special issue: The Politics of Water Quantification) |
| spellingShingle | integrated water resources management sustainable development goals goal 6 clean water and sanitation indicators political aspects water governance water management institutions case studies Mdee, A. Ofori, A. D. Cohen, J. Kjellén, M. Rooney, E. Singhal, S. Amezaga, J. Ankush Figueroa-Benítez, A. Gupta, S. Haile, Alemseged Tamiru Haileslassie, A. Kongo, V. Kumar, A. Noguera, S. A. M. Nagheeby, M. Noor, Z. Z. Polaine, X. Singh, N. Sylvester, R. Wan Ahmad Tajuddin, W. A. N. Yusop, Z. B. Zúñiga-Barragán, J. Obscuring complexity and performing progress: unpacking SDG indicator 6.5.1 and the implementation of IWRM |
| title | Obscuring complexity and performing progress: unpacking SDG indicator 6.5.1 and the implementation of IWRM |
| title_full | Obscuring complexity and performing progress: unpacking SDG indicator 6.5.1 and the implementation of IWRM |
| title_fullStr | Obscuring complexity and performing progress: unpacking SDG indicator 6.5.1 and the implementation of IWRM |
| title_full_unstemmed | Obscuring complexity and performing progress: unpacking SDG indicator 6.5.1 and the implementation of IWRM |
| title_short | Obscuring complexity and performing progress: unpacking SDG indicator 6.5.1 and the implementation of IWRM |
| title_sort | obscuring complexity and performing progress unpacking sdg indicator 6 5 1 and the implementation of iwrm |
| topic | integrated water resources management sustainable development goals goal 6 clean water and sanitation indicators political aspects water governance water management institutions case studies |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/149358 |
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