Chapter 2: State and Trends
are successful examples that highlight the importance of comprehensive, long-term efforts (see for instance CAME 2011), but many of the cities have still not established their plans. A combination of incentives, technological changes, taxes, and the ‘polluter pays’ principle, played a role in achieving the policy implementation in each case. In Chile, the reduction of particulate matter releases involved the development of cleaner fuels by reducing the sulphur content in diesel and gasoline, better car regulations, by mandating the use of catalytic converters (improving combustion efficiency), transport restrictions according to the level of air quality, reduction of the most polluting vehicles from the public collective transportation system, the introduction of diesel particulate filters (DPF), and low emission vehicles (Euro 5 standard) in public transportation fleets (More…10).
2.2 Freshwater 2.2.1 Overview and main messages
In 2005, the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) in its resolution A/RES/58/217, proclaimed 2005–2015 as the International Decade for Action, Water for Life. The resolution states that the main goal of the decade should be a greater focus on water-related issues at all levels, and on the implementation of water-related programmes in order to achieve internationally agreed goals in the framework of the Agenda 21, the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation.
Key Messages: Freshwater
The main pressures affecting water quality and quantity differ vastly within the sub-regions but have not changed since previous assessments. Agriculture, industries and households demand more water resources than ever before as population growths, the global economy expands and extreme climatic events become more frequent. While the construction of new infrastructure and the development of regulatory instruments are important measures to address the situation, integrated approaches that consider the water-energy-food nexus are necessary.
Data on water quality and quantity is scarce both spatially and temporally. As a reference, the average density of monitoring stations for water quality that are part to the GEMS/Water Programme Network is only 0.3 per 10.000 square kilometres (UNEP 2016). There is also a need to develop technical and research capacities to assess the state and trends of water and to build on information gathering and sharing. This information is key for any management effort, just as information on employment, GDP or poverty is essential to run economic policies.
Climate change translates into hydrological variability and in turn to shifting agricultural seasons, frequent extreme climatological events and glacier retreat. In terms of decision making, this represents important uncertainties and challenges in natural resources management. Therefore, a robust and effective structure for water governance that follows an integrated approach should be implemented at all levels. In recent years, many examples of good practices in water resources management have been implemented at the local scale in the region. It is time to upscale these experiences to national and regional contexts.
To fully achieve the SDGs and the human right to water and sanitation, it is necessary to change current consumption and production patterns across all sectors, reducing water loss, updating technologies and conserving ecosystem services.
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