Sustainable climate change adaptation of urban water management in compliance with the UN SDGs

Climate change adaptation of urban water management often, on top of handling water, delivers a multitude of other services to society; it is often used as a levee for transforming cities in a more liveable, green, and resilient direction and these measures should be acknowledged as part of the services provided; a part that potentially can push society at large in a more sustainable direction.

We identified such services and categorized them into four domains: stormwater management, natural resources management, urban liveability, and transition and innovation. Relevant SDG targets and indicators were matched to the individual services, and indicators relevant at project level then formulated to serve the intention of the related SDGs, and where possible, to serve as input to the related SDG indicator at global or national level.

The UN SDGs is a relevant framework for considering the sustainability of climate change adaptation, but requires a thorough assessment of which services a given climate change adaptation measure is expected to deliver before it can be operationalized.