Systems in depth
One section per system: its state at evidence close, its exposures and what the operational series will watch.
Contents
- ·Edition home
- ·Executive summary
- 1Governance is the layer that sets the rules for every other system
- 2Key findings
- 3Systems and sectors at baseline
- 4Risks and capability
- 5Debt-service squeeze under aid cuts, thinner oversight and a health or food shock
- 6Readings from the other desks
- 7The 2027 agenda
- 8Systems in depth
- AMethodology
- BData appendix
- CReferences and record
- ·Complete edition, for print
8.1Governance and water
Water is governed through allocation rules, utilities, shared-basin arrangements and aid. The evidence read here is strong on institutions and thin on volumes: implementation of integrated water resources management has improved since 2017, but too slowly for the 2030 ambition.
| Component | State | Evidence | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Integrated water resources management | implementation improved since 2017; pace too slow for the 2030 ambition | 6 | Reported |
| Aid to the water sector | USD 9.6 billion disbursed in 2024, up from USD 8.9 billion in 2023 | 6 | Reported |
| Local service governance | shared-resource governance studied in the commons literature; no global series bound | 46 | Inferred |
| Shared basin arrangements | not consolidated here | 6 | Expert input |
Couplings
- WAT → FOO abstraction and irrigation rules
- ENE → WAT pumping tariffs and subsidies
- GOV → WAT allocation and aid
Evidence to bind in 2027
- shared basin agreements in force, by basin
- tariff and subsidy reform by country
Related editions
- GLB Global Systems
- GS-05 Finance and Economy
- GS-06 Development and Humanitarian
- GS-13 Cyber and Digital Systems
- SR-05 Sovereign, Fiscal and Financial Resilience
- SR-10 Digital Public Infrastructure and Systemic Cyber Risk
8.2Governance and energy
Energy is steered by prices, subsidies, access programmes and climate commitments. Subsidies fell in 2024 and remain high, and the 2023 stocktake decision asks Parties to phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies as soon as possible.
| Component | State | Evidence | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subsidy reform | down 10.2% in 2024 and more than double the 2020 low of USD 402 billion | 6 | Reported |
| Stocktake decision | calls for tripling renewable capacity, transitioning away from fossil fuels and phasing out inefficient subsidies | 22 | Reported |
| Access programmes | 655 million lack electricity; the annual gain halved against the previous decade | 6 | Reported |
| Market and grid regulation | rules of regulators and operators not consolidated here | 22 | Expert input |
Couplings
- ENE → FOO fuel and fertiliser subsidies
- GOV → ENE subsidy design
- ENE → HLT access programmes
Evidence to bind in 2027
- subsidy design by country
- regulator capacity
Related editions
- GLB Global Systems
- GS-05 Finance and Economy
- GS-06 Development and Humanitarian
- GS-13 Cyber and Digital Systems
- SR-05 Sovereign, Fiscal and Financial Resilience
- SR-10 Digital Public Infrastructure and Systemic Cyber Risk
8.3Governance and food
Food systems are governed through price monitoring, trade rules, agricultural incentives and safety nets. Hunger and the cost of a healthy diet remain far above 2030 targets.
| Component | State | Evidence | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hunger and diet cost | hunger and the cost of a healthy diet remain far above 2030 targets | 14 | Reported |
| Food price monitoring | share of countries with high food prices fell for a second year in 2024 | 6 | Reported |
| Agricultural incentives | the biodiversity framework asks for harmful incentives to be identified by 2025 and reduced by USD 500 billion a year by 2030 | 21 | Reported |
| Trade dispute settlement | appeal review unavailable since the Appellate Body lost its last sitting member in 2020 | 24 | Reported |
Couplings
- FOO → HLT price and nutrition policy
- FOO → BIO agricultural incentives
- WAT → FOO abstraction rules
Evidence to bind in 2027
- agricultural support by country and instrument
- safety net coverage in food crises
Related editions
- GLB Global Systems
- GS-05 Finance and Economy
- GS-06 Development and Humanitarian
- GS-13 Cyber and Digital Systems
- SR-05 Sovereign, Fiscal and Financial Resilience
- SR-10 Digital Public Infrastructure and Systemic Cyber Risk
8.4Governance and health
Health security is governed by regulations, treaties and public trust. The Health Regulations were amended in 2024, the Pandemic Agreement was adopted in 2025, and one study associates trust and low corruption with lower infection rates.
12.9%
modelled fall in infections if all countries matched the 75th percentile of government trust, if associations were causal28
46.4%
lowest regional satisfaction with health service availability, Sub-Saharan Africa, extended report5
| Component | State | Evidence | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health Regulations amendments | define a pandemic emergency and a National IHR Authority | 20 | Reported |
| Pandemic Agreement | adopted 20 May 2025; open for signature after its pathogen access annex is adopted | 19 | Reported |
| Trust and corruption | associated with lower infection rates; preparedness indices were not | 28 | Inferred |
| Satisfaction with health services | East and South-East Asia highest at 88.2% in the extended report and 74.2% in the main report; lowest 46.4% in Sub-Saharan Africa and 46.9% in Latin America and the Caribbean, by the same two sources | 56 | Reported |
Couplings
- GOV → HLT emergency determination
- BIO → HLT zoonotic risk
- FIN → GOV → HLT budgets
Evidence to bind in 2027
- ratification status of the Pandemic Agreement
- trust in government on a common basis
Related editions
- GLB Global Systems
- GS-05 Finance and Economy
- GS-06 Development and Humanitarian
- GS-13 Cyber and Digital Systems
- SR-05 Sovereign, Fiscal and Financial Resilience
- SR-10 Digital Public Infrastructure and Systemic Cyber Risk
8.5Governance and nature
Nature is governed through targets, incentives, finance and the protection of those who defend it. The global framework sets a 2030 target to reduce harmful incentives and a finance target from all sources.
| Component | State | Evidence | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harmful incentives | identify by 2025 and reduce by at least USD 500 billion a year by 2030 | 21 | Reported |
| Biodiversity finance | at least USD 200 billion a year from all sources by 2030, with USD 20 billion a year of international flows by 2025 | 21 | Reported |
| Defenders | environmental and land defenders were 31% of those killed or disappeared in 2025, and 52% in Latin America and the Caribbean | 5 | Reported |
| Environmental democracy treaties | regional treaties on information, participation and justice in environmental matters exist; their status was not retrieved | 4748 | Inferred |
Couplings
- GOV → BIO incentives and enforcement
- FOO → BIO agricultural incentives
- ENE → BIO permits and siting
Evidence to bind in 2027
- harmful incentives identified by country
- ecosystem effects of enforcement gaps
Related editions
- GLB Global Systems
- GS-05 Finance and Economy
- GS-06 Development and Humanitarian
- GS-13 Cyber and Digital Systems
- SR-05 Sovereign, Fiscal and Financial Resilience
- SR-10 Digital Public Infrastructure and Systemic Cyber Risk
Notes
Numbers are the edition’s reference numbers, so a note reads the same in every chapter. The full list, with every source and its licence, is in Annex C. Annex C, references
- 6United Nations Secretary-General, Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, A/81/93-E/2026/73, 8 June 2026 (PDF read). United Nations, New York. Observation year 2024 to 2025. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 46UNVERIFIED, not opened: Ostrom, E., A General Framework for Analyzing Sustainability of Social-Ecological Systems, Science, July 2009 (the bibliographic record was checked in Crossref; the article was not opened). American Association for the Advancement of Science. Observation year 2009. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 22UNFCCC, decision 1/CMA.5, Outcome of the first global stocktake, FCCC/PA/CMA/2023/16/Add.1 (advance version of 15 March 2024; PDF read). UNFCCC secretariat, Bonn. Observation year 2023. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 14FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO (eds.), The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2026: Understanding and addressing the high cost of a healthy diet (landing page read; the full report was not opened). FAO, Rome. Observation year 2025. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 21Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, decision 15/4, Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, December 2022 (PDF read). Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Montreal. Observation year 2022. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 24World Trade Organization (ed.), Dispute settlement: Appellate Body (page read; the term of the last sitting member expired on 30 November 2020; notified appeals listed to 21 November 2025). WTO, Geneva. Observation year 2025. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 19World Health Assembly, resolution WHA78.1, WHO Pandemic Agreement, 20 May 2025 (PDF read, including the annexed agreement). World Health Organization, Geneva. Observation year 2025. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 28COVID-19 National Preparedness Collaborators, Pandemic preparedness and COVID-19: an exploratory analysis of infection and fatality rates, and contextual factors associated with preparedness in 177 countries, from Jan 1, 2020, to Sept 30, 2021, The Lancet 399(10334), 1489 to 1512, 2022 (open-access record and abstract read through Europe PMC; the full text was not read). Elsevier. Observation year 2022. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 5UN DESA Statistics Division (ed.), The Sustainable Development Goals Extended Report 2026, Goal 16 indicator storylines (inputs as of 30 April 2026; PDF read). United Nations, New York. Observation year 2024 to 2025. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 20World Health Assembly, International Health Regulations (2005) as amended, document A77/A/CONF./14, 1 June 2024 (PDF read). World Health Organization, Geneva. Observation year 2024. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 47UNVERIFIED, not opened: UNECE (ed.), Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention), 1998; the PDF refused automated access. United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, Geneva. Observation year 1998. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 48UNVERIFIED, not opened: ECLAC (ed.), Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean (Escazú Agreement), 2018; the repository refused automated access. United Nations ECLAC, Santiago. Observation year 2018. Accessed 2026-11-03.back