Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development was adopted by the United Nations in September 2015. It contains an ambitious set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with a fundamental principle of 'leaving no one behind'. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is committed to meeting these goals. Indeed, the Kingdom has articulated its Vision 2030 which is not only co-terminus in terms of the timeline with Agenda 2030 but is also founded on the principles of sustainable development.

SDG 6 calls for ensuring access to water and sanitation for all and SDG 12 calls for ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns, with a target in particular to achieving the sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources. In response to these SDGs, the United Nations Country Programme (2017-2021) for Saudi Arabia, approvedby the Executive Board, includes under Pillar III the objective of "Sustainable Natural Resource Management" which has been elaborated upon as meaning "through environmentally-sustainable extraction and use of (non-oil) natural resources…. Achievements under pillar will be measured by the degrees to which proper energy-efficient and water-conservation policies are being implemented and contribute to decreased energy and water consumption." This discussion paper was commissioned to meet this objective of the UNDP Country Programme through a contribution by UNDP on the policies and actions for sustainable extraction and use of water resources.