Studying The Politics of SDG Indicators Across Levels of Governance - The Case of UN-Water and SDG6

Agenda 2030 envisages indicators that are key decision-support instruments. Yet surprisingly little is known about indicator governance in practice. The SDG indicator for ambient water quality SDG 6.3.2 ("Proportion of bodies with good ambient water quality") is representative for the complex, interrelated and technical/political nature of the SDGs. Yet unlike many other SDG indicators, it combines a highly complex international policy objective, with a novel methodology (in situ monitoring data), and is embedded in a highly fragmented institutional landscape both at national and international level. We will show that this mechanism is made possible by the SDG6 Integrated Monitoring Initiative (IMI) which serves as a cross-agency monitoring mechanism under UN-Water and which fulfills different types of integrative governance functions. As part of a European project on risks and the SDGs (PEER-TRISD), the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research has been doing work on the functional fit of SDG indicators - starting with water-quality related SDG indicators. Bringing together natural and social scientific researchers, we asked: Is SDG 6.3.2 “fit for function”, before immediately asking: whose function? What roles do SDG indicators (whether for water quality, or other indicators throughout SDG6) play for different actors across governance levels? How is SDG 6.3.2 managed and reported across scales? How do states in the Global North and South react to novel forms of global environmental monitoring? How does the monitoring framework and monitoring practices relate to the ambitious targets enshrined in the SDGs and their implementation? In our paper, we will show findings from semi-standardized expert interviews that were conducted with all UN custodian agencies of SDG6, as well as with policymakers and water experts from national, European and international levels, especially at UN-Water. We show how institutional mandates at the UN level have shifted as part of the SDG monitoring process and explore what this re-orientation of environmental monitoring means for water governance at the global level, as well as for national implementation.