It is evident that the effects of climate change have a major influence on land use, ecosystem services, human well-being and health. This presentation will focus on the understanding how our planet is affected by climate change and specially lakes and wetlands that are suitable sentinels of climate change because they constitute well defined ecosystems and they respond quickly to changes in climate. Currently, over-use of water is taking place in many places, which poses major risks to groundwater levels and it is argued that today we consume roughly half of the planet’s accessible surface freshwater. This makes it clear that if the dependence on ecosystems for human well-being becomes less visible, people will not even notice the possible ecosystems destruction. The water needs for society and human well-being make lakes and wetlands even more important as these are one of the most valuable ecosystems on our planet, which provide ecosystems services such as water supply, waste treatment, local climate regulation, and flood control. The concept of ecosystem services, which encompasses the human benefits derived from ecosystem functions generated by nature and ecosystems will in this presentation be stressed in relation to the sustainable development goals (SDGs 2030) for economic, social and environmental development. Finally, the keynote will touch upon how the application of emerging ICT technologies provide realtime monitoring and relevant data collection on lakes and wetlands. This is expected to improve ecosystem services, including technological change and social innovation in relation to sustainability, and the need for a deeper focus on intertwined socio-ecological interactions.