iMeasuring Progress:Water-related ecosystems and the SDGs Measuring progress: Water-related ecosystems and the SDGsiiCopyright © 2023 United Nations Environment ProgrammeISBN No: 978-92-807-4015-8Job No: DEW/2513/NAThis publication may be reproduced in whole or in part and in any form for educational or non-profit services without special permission from the copyright holder, provided acknowledgement of the source is made. The United Nations Environment Programme would appreciate receiving a copy of any publication that uses this publication as a source. No use of this publication may be made for resale or for any other commercial purpose whatsoever without prior permission in writing from the United Nations Environment Programme. Applications for such permission, with a statement of the purpose and extent of the reproduction, should be addressed to the Director, Communication Division, United Nations Environment Programme, unep-communication-director@un.org. The use of information from this document for publicity or advertising is not permitted. Trademark names and symbols are used in an editorial fashion with no intention on infringement of trademark or copyright laws.Disclaimers The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the United Nations Environment Programme concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The views expressed do not necessarily represent the decision or the stated policy of the United Nations Environment Programme, nor does citing of trade names or commercial processes constitute endorsement. Authors serve in their personal capacities, the opinions expressed in this report may not reflect the opinions of their host institutions. Authors are not necessarily in agreement with every detail of this report.Recommended citation: “United Nations Environment Programme (2023). Measuring Progress: Water-related ecosystems and the SDGs. Nairobi.” Layout: UNON Publishing Services Section iiiMeasuring Progress:Water-related ecosystems and the SDGs Measuring progress: Water-related ecosystems and the SDGsivTable of contentsAcronyms viiiAcknowledgements 1Foreword 2Executive Summary 3Chapter 1: Background 71.1 Introduction 81.1.1 A focus on water-related ecosystems 81.1.2 Water-related ecosystems and the SDGs 81.1.3 The importance of water-related ecosystems to the natural environment 91.2 Threats to water-related ecosystems 91.3 Presentation of report sections and what is covered under each section 11Chapter 2: The state of the environment 122.1 Global and regional progress on the environmental dimension of the SDGs 132.1.1 Global progress on the environmental dimension of the SDGs 132.1.2 Sub-Saharan Africa: Regional progress on the environmental dimension and state of the environment indicators of the SDGs 182.1.3 Asia and the Pacific: Regional progress on the environmental dimension and state of the environment indicators of the SDGs 232.1.4 Europe and Northern America: Regional progress on the environmental dimension and state of the environment indicators of the SDGs 302.1.5 Latin America and the Caribbean: Regional progress on the environmental dimension and state of the environment indicators of the SDGs 392.1.6 Northern Africa and Western Asia: Regional progress on the environmental dimension and state of the environment indicators of the SDGs 432.2 Socioeconomic and environmental factors’ introduction 47a. Economic and social factors 47b. Physical infrastructure 48c. Human infrastructure 48d. Environment 48e. Natural resources 49Chapter 3: Methodology 503.1 Theory of change 513.2 Analytical approach 513.2.1 Definition of components 513.2.2 Theoretical models specifications 523.3 Presentation of results 55 vChapter 4: Freshwater-related ecosystems 564.1 Interlinkages analysis of freshwater-related indicators at the global level 574.1.1 The i