Latin America Struggles to Meet SDG 6 Water and Sanitation Goals

Is Latin America ready to meet SDG 6 on Water and Sanitation? The responsible answer is straightforward: no. At least not by 2030 if current trends continue. This does not mean that the region has made no progress or that SDG 6 has failed. It means that the advances achieved over the past decade remain insufficient relative to the scale of the gaps. How can we change course? We must accelerate investment, strengthen cross-sector collaboration, and focus on measurable results.

Real Progress, Insufficient Pace

A few days ago, the United Nations published its report "Ten Years of SDG 6 and the Path to 2030," and its findings deserve careful reflection. The goal of ensuring the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all undoubtedly transformed the international agenda. Access to these services became linked to water quality, efficiency, integrated management, ecosystems, and cooperation. Between 2015 and 2024, 961 million people gained access to safely managed drinking water, while nearly 1.2 billion gained access to safely managed sanitation. However, achieving universal coverage by 2030 would require an eightfold increase in the rate of progress for drinking water and a sixfold increase for sanitation.

The challenge is particularly significant in Latin America and the Caribbean. In 2024 alone, approximately 140 million people lacked safely managed drinking water and 324 million lacked safely managed sanitation. This is despite the region holding a considerable share of the planet’s freshwater resources. Yet, as we know, water availability does not necessarily translate into water security.

Water resources are unevenly distributed, increasingly polluted, and do not always coincide with the locations of major population centers and productive activities. These challenges are compounded by ecosystem degradation, limited capacity among many water and sanitation utilities, institutional fragmentation, and insufficient investment. Climate change further intensifies these vulnerabilities through droughts, floods, and increasing hydrological variability.

From Diagnosis to Implementation

At the Regional Centre for Water Security under the auspices of UNESCO, we have sought to strengthen the information that supports decision-making. One clear example is the Water Security Index for Latin America and the Caribbean. The Index integrates four dimensions: drinking water and sanitation; water and development; ecosystem health; and resilience to extreme hydrometeorological events. Its first application analyzed 11 countries representing nearly 90% of the region’s population between 2015 and 2022. Over this period, the Index increased from 586 to 650 points out of a theoretical maximum of 1,000. Progress was consistent but limited, and no country achieved an optimal level of water security.

This information, however, is only a starting point. We must strengthen our commitment to developing a genuine Water Security Observatory for Latin America and the Caribbean that can regularly update and harmonize indicators, facilitate the comparison of results, and connect evidence with investment decisions. Identifying gaps is not enough. We must formulate concrete actions: select priority territories, adapt proven solutions, strengthen local capacities, structure bankable projects, and monitor results. International cooperation can accelerate this process through technical assistance, knowledge exchange, technology transfer, and financial mechanisms capable of translating regional knowledge into measurable improvements for communities, ecosystems, and productive activities.

Why Does SDG6 Matter to Business?

For companies, achieving SDG 6 is not merely an environmental or reputational responsibility. It is a prerequisite for operational continuity and competitiveness. Water scarcity, pollution, or a disaster can interrupt production, increase costs, affect suppliers, generate conflict with communities, and influence investment decisions. In sectors such as food and beverages, agriculture, mining, energy, manufacturing, tourism, and data centers, water risk is already a financial risk. It also affects access to capital, compliance with the requirements of global customers, and a company’s social license to operate.

The first contribution businesses can make is to understand their water use and impacts accurately. This requires measuring withdrawals, consumption, discharges, and supply-chain risks; establishing targets that reflect the conditions of each watershed; reducing leaks; improving production processes; and expanding wastewater treatment and reuse. Disclosing results and methodologies helps distinguish measurable commitments from broad statements while generating useful information for authorities, investors, and communities.

The most consequential action takes place beyond company facilities. An efficient plant can remain vulnerable if the surrounding watershed is degraded or neighboring communities lack adequate services. Successful examples already exist of companies co-investing in the restoration of groundwater recharge areas, nature-based solutions, sanitation, monitoring systems, and early warning systems. These interventions should respond to public and territorial priorities, without replacing the obligations of the state or being limited to offsetting water consumption through a corporate water balance.

2030: A Turning Point

Latin America and the Caribbean will not fully achieve SDG 6 by 2030 if the current trajectory continues. Nevertheless, the deadline retains a decisive purpose: it compels us to assess results, acknowledge persistent gaps, and increase the accountability of governments, businesses, and international organizations. The immediate priority should be to scale up what has already proven effective and correct what has failed to produce structural change.

The region must move from isolated projects to long-term programs; from measuring coverage to guaranteeing quality and continuity; and from managing water sector by sector to addressing water-related risks at the territorial and watershed levels. Falling short of the 2030 deadline does not remove the obligation to act. What would be unacceptable is to use that shortfall as a justification for lowering our ambition after 2030.