NDC Opportunities Through Water

Climate change is impacting water security for people around the world. Whether through crop loss, damage to critical infrastructure or the spread of water-borne disease, the increased frequency and severity of droughts and floods caused by climate change can devastate lives and livelihoods. And these threats are likely to grow in the years ahead.

By including measures to improve water management in their nationally determined contributions (NDCs), countries can simultaneously reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, enhance water security and support sustainable development. For example, expanding sanitation services can improve people’s health while reducing emissions derived from poor wastewater treatment. And using water more efficiently can help address water stress while cutting energy-related emissions from treatment and conveyance.

Water security is a cornerstone of sustainable development, essential to our health, wellbeing and economies. So acting to prevent and adapt to water-related climate impacts should be a priority for every country.

Why the Water-Climate Nexus Matters for NDCs

Mitigating climate change and adapting to its impacts requires explicitly considering water — not just as a sector, but also as a cycle. Water flows through all sectors of our economies, is regulated by our ecosystems, and is increasingly and alarmingly distorted by global temperature rise. Acting concurrently on water, climate and biodiversity can unlock progress on mitigation, adaptation and resilience, as well as sustainable development benefits.

Key opportunities include:

• Improving water access and making water and sanitation more resilient to climate impacts. This is critical not only for building resilience to climate change, but also for meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), upholding the human right to water, protecting human capital and pursuing economic development.
• Mitigating sanitation sector emissions from untreated wastewater. Wastewater accounts for 5% of global non-CO2 GHG emissions, largely stemming from anaerobic wastewater treatment systems. Targets or investments to support better waste management can reduce these emissions while improving access to safely managed sanitation.
• Linking energy and freshwater in climate plans. Water and energy are deeply intertwined: Water is critical for energy production, while energy is needed to treat, heat and transport water. Mismanaged or inefficient water use thus has both water and energy costs. Meanwhile, improving water management and investing in water and energy system interdependencies can yield many benefits
• Addressing water-related risks to build more sustainable and resilient food systems, while paying careful attention to social equity. Agricultural production, agriculture sector livelihoods and food security are highly sensitive to climate change. Soil and water conservation on agricultural lands can reduce vulnerability to floods and droughts. Expansion of water storage and irrigation infrastructure can also help cope with these challenges. However, attention needs to be paid to freshwater depletion and pollution to avoid maladaptation and unintended consequences.
• Protecting and restoring wetlands. Wetlands play an important role in storing carbon, regulating water flows, protecting biodiversity, and increasing resilience to floods and droughts. Wetlands store an estimated 20% of global organic ecosystem carbon. An estimated 35% of natural wetland area has been lost since the 1970s, with agriculture as the key driver. Targets to conserve and restore wetlands can yield GHG, climate-related water resilience, and biodiversity benefits.
• Protecting and restoring forest ecosystems. Forests – another carbon-rich ecosystem – also play a critical role in regulating the water cycle, providing non-carbon climate benefits. Studies have found that forests are key in regulating precipitation patterns – with local and regional climate stabilization impacts beyond mitigation of GHG emissions. NDCs should surface the GHG and non-GHG climate benefits of forest ecosystem conservation and restoration, and – where relevant – consider targets to better protect and codify land tenure for groups that steward and protect these lands.

Recent Developments

At COP28 in Dubai, the first-ever Global Stocktake (GST) highlighted the need to adapt and build resilience to the impacts of climate change on freshwater systems as an urgent action gap.

The GST decision, which is meant to inform countries’ NDCs, urged Parties and other stakeholders to increase ambition in this sector and to enhance adaptation action and support. This included an explicit call to reduce “climate-induced water scarcity” and enhance “climate resilience to water-related hazards” while working towards “a climate-resilient water supply, climate-resilient sanitation and access to safe and affordable potable water for all.” It also referenced the need to scale up ecosystem-based adaptation and nature-based solutions, including freshwater and marine ecosystems. Countries should ensure that their NDCs incorporate these water adaptation targets, which tie into the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA).

The Global Stocktake also called for efforts to accelerate delivery through inclusive, multilevel, gender-responsive and cooperative action. While the drivers of water insecurity can be global, water management and adaptation efforts are often local. NDCs should recognize this by prioritizing subnational stakeholders in planning and implementation processes.

Meanwhile, in 2022, Parties adopted the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), which aims to conserve at least 30% of the world’s land and water and restore at least 30% of degraded ecosystems by 2030. While country commitments toward these goals are made through National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs), NDCs offer an opportunity to reiterate these commitments and to align climate strategies with national biodiversity plans.

Elevating the critical role that ecosystems play in regulating the water cycle can illuminate mutually beneficial pathways for nature, climate, water and development. The Freshwater Challenge, launched at the UN 2023 Water Conference, aims to accelerate integrated efforts at the nexus of these issues, including delivery of national plans and strategies to restore and conserve freshwater ecosystems under the GBF. It was adopted as an official outcome of COP28, with 49 countries and the EU as  signatories as of January 2025.

How to Incorporate Water-Related Targets in NDCs

In their new and updated NDCs, countries can strengthen or include:

• Targets to reduce GHG emissions from water across all sectors in tons of CO2-equivalent gross emissions reductions relative to the base year. Countries can also strengthen or include policies and actions across sectors to support these water-related GHG emissions reduction targets, such as:
  • Measures to address water and sanitation sector emissions; for example, measures to reduce emissions from untreated wastewater and excreta through improved sanitation services — such as replacing pit latrines with composting toilets in slum settlements —  and converting to aerobic wastewater treatment systems.
  • Measures addressing water and energy together. Countries should consider including targets or policies for reducing energy consumption through improved water management. They should also consider complementary practices to support these goals, such as subsidy reform, initiatives to reduce non-revenue water, or new standards or incentives for more water-efficient technologies. NDCs should surface the water-related implications — both costs and benefits — of clean energy production and identify measures for mitigating harm. For example, they should identify and avoid poorly managed critical mineral production, which can deplete and contaminate freshwater systems, threatening the health of local populations and ecosystems.
• Targets for improving resilience to climate-related water risks, such as reducing the vulnerability of water and sanitation services and infrastructure, expanding soil and water conservation, and providing targeted insurance and social safety nets. These targets should be informed by the GST. Countries can also strengthen or include policies and actions to support water-related adaptation and resilience targets through inclusive, multi-level, gender-sensitive processes. And they can take steps to mainstream climate adaptation and resilience into national water and sanitation efforts.
• Measures addressing water use and challenges in agriculture. Countries should consider including targets for increasing the resilience of food systems by expanding soil and water conservation practices, along with policies and actions to support these targets. Countries can also consider policies and actions to support the food security and livelihoods of smallholder farmers and others most vulnerable to water-related climate hazards. This could include, for example, extension services for farmers or early warning systems.
• Water- and climate-related targets and goals from other international processes, translated to national contexts and domestic policies. This could include the SDGs and CBD as well as the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar Convention), and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.
• Sector-specific, actionable targets for mitigation and adaptation that focus on conserving and restoring water cycle regulation, sustaining climate-related biophysical effects (such as regulating local and regional precipitation), and enhancing carbon sequestration and storage. This could include, for example, measures to protect and restore ecosystems that are critical to water cycle regulation. NDCs should surface the GHG and non-GHG climate benefits of ecosystem conservation and restoration, and — where relevant — consider targets to better protect and codify land tenure for groups that steward and protect these lands.

_{Cover image by Bernd Dittrich/Unsplash}