Figure 1: Gr een water refers to rainwater stored in the soil or on vegetation, which cannot be diverted to a
different use. Blue water is surface and groundwater, which can be stored and diverted for a specific purpose Source: after Molden (2007)
that reflect the full costs of use including the costs of adverse impacts on the environment, and through improved regulation. Use is kept within sustainable limits.
In green economies, the role of water in both maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services and in providing water is recognised, valued and paid for. The use of technologies that encourage efficient forms of recycling and reuse is encouraged.
1.4 Measuring progress towards a green economy
In many countries, there is a lack of reliable data on the water-storage capacities of river basins, the condition of built infrastructure and the performance of the water supply and sanitation sector. One of the more significant opportunities to improve investment and management is to assemble data in a manner that enables water to be managed effectively and the performance of one region to be accurately compared with other regions.
Signposts of success in terms of progress towards a greener set of economic arrangements include:
■ Recognition of the value of the benefits provided by good water management and costs (negative value) of not doing so;
■ Evidence of increased investment in the water supply and sanitation sector that gives consideration to the environment;
■ The formal definition of rights to use water and its allocation to users and the environment;
■ Legislative recognition of the important role that ecosystem services can play in supporting an economy;
■ Investment in the development of institutional capacity to manage ecosystems, including water, on a sustainable basis or using an ecosystem approach;
■ The removal of policies that discourage ecosystem conservation and/or have perverse effects on water use and investment;
■ Progress towards arrangements that reflect the full costs of resource use in ways that do not compromise the needs of disadvantaged people in a community; and
■ Addressing ecosystem degradation by increasing efforts for restoring and protecting ecosystems critical to supply of water quantity and quality.
Indicators to be tracked include data on:
■ The number of people without access to reliable supplies of clean water and adequate sanitation;