by University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, and Bremen Overseas Research and Development Association (BORDA)

by Fondation SEMFAO and GIZ

Opportunities and Technical Solutions to Address Water Shortage in East Africa Through Better Understanding of the Water & Energy Nexus. Held by Dr. Vincent Kitio, Energy Advisor at UN-Habitat, at the African Dialogue on the Water-Food-Energy Nexus in Nairobi.

by Dr Larry C.Y. Wong, Program Director, TIES, held at the National Convention on Food Security in Malaysia, 15-16 Oct 2012, Putrajaya, Malaysia

Hillary Clinton speaking to the UN Roundtable on Water Security: “Water scarcity could have profound implications for security... I think water should be a priority in every nation’s foreign policy and domestic agenda, and we need to work together to advance cooperation on shared waters.”

In the final installment of the Global Resource Nexus Series, Junior Fellow Corey Johnson examines the everyday politics behind resource allocation and consumption. He examines the role resources play in causing migration, and the importance of cities in understanding and addressing the resource nexus.

The complex interplay of food, energy, and water demand and supply poses numerous policy challenges, especially in the context of expanding population sizes, rising standards of living, and resource management constraints due to sustainable environmental practices.1 Bhutan provides an interesting illustration of how these issues can be addressed holistically, in a relatively socially responsible, economically beneficial and environmentally sustainable way. By Paula Hanasz, Future Directions international

Constructing a multi-level governance framework for the Water-Energy-Food Security Nexus in the SADC region - by Inga Jacobs, Water Research Commission (WRC), and Manisha Gulati, WWF South Africa

by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), with funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the California Energy Commission

by Stuart Orr, WWF International

by Joachim von Braun, Center for Development Research (ZEF), University of Bonn

by Janos J. Bogardi, Executive Officer of GWSP

by Victor Muyeba and Jackson Mulenga, Devolution Trust Fund, Zambia

Interview with Stephan Opitz, Director General of KfW, on the Rio+20 conference and the work of KfW. On the occasion of the UN-conference Rio+20 he explains how Germany’s promotional bank implements this task. KfW promotes sustainable projects and programmes in developing and transition countries in areas such as water supply, food security and energy and is in this way supporting a “green economy” in its partner countries.

Population and economic growth are putting pressure on available fresh water resources worldwide. Uncertain water availability is a challenge that many countries face, which can impact economic growth. This ‘water challenge’, and its links to economic growth, has multiple dimensions, one of which is access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation services. Improved access has a direct positive impact on people and communities leading to significant social, economic and environmental benefits. This explains why a Millennium Development Goal (MDG) is “to reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation by 2015 compared with 1990 levels”. Water resource management at river basins is another key link between water and economic growth. Effective management of freshwater resources helps sustain agriculture, industries, ecosystems and communities. This executive summary focuses on the new findings from the report regarding the links between these two dimensions, and economic growth.

Water will be a central component of the Rio discussions due to its role in the green economy. Furthermore, water management structures will be part of the discussions at the Summit. A strong unified front from the water community is required to assure that the agreements made at Rio produce positive and lasting results regarding water resources. This guide seeks to introduce the Rio+20 process and facilitate water stakeholders’ participation in the process.

The main challenge of building a sustainable world is to ensure the right of each and every one of the world’s people to resources and basic services. Furthermore, we have the inescapable obligation to do so in a responsible manner for both us and the rest of species while ensuring the rights of future generations and without exceeding the carrying capacity of the Earth’s natural resources. The scale of this challenge is still tremendous.

Nuclear technologies are used daily to find and protect sustainable sources of fresh water, produce energy and food, while providing researchers the tools to study the ocean’s past and predict its future. The IAEA helps its 154 member countries safely employ these technologies to ensure peace, health and prosperity throughout the world.

Is water the “gold of the 21st century,” potentially triggering “water wars” between countries sharing the precious resource? Such scenarios proliferated in the 1990s, but today a different paradigm is taking root. Politicians are beginning to emphasise the peace dividend of water cooperation; and development agencies are now supporting transboundary water cooperation projects around the world. And even at the highest level of political discourse, water cooperation has been identified as an entry point for broader peacebuilding.

Key messages developed during the seminar “On Food, Water and Energy - in the Context of Rio+20” by participants from Norwegian and international NGO’s during their working groups to the Norwegian Government

Climate variability is a problem in the Nile Basin and is increasing. Urgent solutions are needed to address the water-food-climate crisis. Many of the solutions need better cooperation and discussion between the Nile Basin riparian countries.

The Women’s Major Group urges for constructive work on food, water, sanitation and energy. Women, youth and indigenous people are affected most by insuffient efforts to improve access and quality of services in these sectors. – by Rosa Lizarde

Speech of HRH Prince of Orange during in interactive meeting in preparation of Rio on 30 May 2012 in Rotterdam

International Rivers welcomes the opportunity of Rio+20 to provide input into this critical process and offers the following comment and recommendations on the conference’s Green Economy theme.

by Dr. Jerome Delli Priscoli, Institute for Water Resources, US Army Corps of Engineers, Governor World Water Council, Editor in Chief Water Policy, held on the SAWEF Conference in South Africa

The interrelationship between water and energy goes around and around. Increasing demands on water from the private and public sectors are impacting the world’s ability to meet its energy needs. In parallel, the need for more and more water for agricultural, industrial and domestic uses requires more energy. A constraint in either resource limits the other, and this nexus of supply and demand poses substantial risks for virtually every government and every type of business.

for the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development

The Living Planet Report is the world’s leading science-based analysis on the health of our only planet and the impact of human activity. Its key finding? Humanity’s demands exceed our planet’s capacity to sustain us. That is, we ask for more than what we have. A new edition of the report was released on 15 May 2012.

by Dirk Willem te Velde (ODI), held on 19 April 2012, Washington Commonwealth-Francophonie-G20 - Development Working Group Outreach Meeting

by Margaret Catley-Carlson, held at the South African Water, Energy and Food Forum: “Managing the Mega-Nexus”, 18-19 April 2012

by Larry C.Y. Wong, Program Director, Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS), Malaysia

“The time for solution is upon us.” The member countries of the Blue Group call upon all stakeholders of the 6th World Water Forum 2012, and the wider international community, to integrate human rights standards and principles when finding solutions to support the aim of universal access to water and sanitation.

The growth of the earth’s urban population and areas continues as a major demographic trend; it is projected that 70 % of the world’s population will live in urban areas by 2050. Urban growth today is most rapid in developing countries, where cities gain an average of 5 million residents each month.

Dams – Blessing or curse? Over 48,000 large dams are in operation worldwide.

The book seeks to deepen the awareness and understanding of the nexus which spans across the issue of water and to explore solutions to the water scarcity challenge ahead.

by University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, and Bremen Overseas Research and Development Association (BORDA)

WaterLex, through its legal expertise, supports the harmonization and strengthening of international law asserting the trumping value of human rights commitments over any other international commitments.

by Fondation SEMFAO and GIZ

Why do millions surrounded by the means to produce food still go hungry? — Conference report by OXFAM

This paper is the scientific background paper of the Bonn2011 Nexus Conference. It explains the Nexus and presents initial evidence for how a nexus approach can enhance water, energy and food security in a green economy by increasing efficiency, reducing trade-offs, and building synergies across sectors.

by Chantal Symoens, EuropeAid

by Rainer Hakala, Energy Unit C.5., Directorate General for Development and Cooperation - EuropeAid, European Commission (EC)

Is there a contradiction between providing secure access to water and energy and supplying sufficient food to the world‘s growing population? The answer right now is: in many cases, yes! In many situations throughout the world it is becoming clear that increases in the supply of water or food or energy only come at the expense of one or both of the other resources.

Our world faces enormous challenges. Water, energy and food will become ever scarcer in future, especially in poor countries. Although solutions can be found for many of the impending problems, the measures taken to tackle one problem impact on other sectors – often with negative consequences. Conflicts of objectives arise. Thus, more food or energy has, so far, come at a high cost: rising water consumption. And this is only one example of the contradictory relationships at work.

Good management of water and sanitation is a precondition for sustainable development. It underpins the three pillars of sustainable development and also contributes to a green economy and to poverty eradication. These are compelling reasons to address water and sanitation challenges in UNCSD2012. UNSGAB believes that the global community must make progress on three major water and sanitation challenges during UNCSD2012.

A new approach – the water, energy and food security nexus

Reflections of the Co-Chairs on the outcomes of the Bonn2011 Nexus-Conference

The objective of this conference is to discuss and identify priority areas following the outcomes of the 6th World Water Forum and the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20 or UNCSD).

New Challenges for Science and Governance. Indicators, Thresholds and Uncertainties of the Global Water System, Bonn

Insights from the European Report on Development

The Side-Event aims at identifying trade-offs between the sectoral objectives and discussing how a better consideration of the interlinkages between energy, water and food security can contribute to the achievement of the energy objectives.

This session aims to consider how a new paradigm of adaptive management can be developed to address water security issues in a context of growing multiple needs and water scarcity.

The third European Report on Development (ERD) – drawn up by three European think tanks, the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), the European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM) and the German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) – focuses on the use of scarce resources for inclusive and sustainable growth in the spheres of water, energy and land.

How can we secure access to adequate food, clean and safe drinking water and sustainable energy for all – within the planetary boundaries?

International World Water Day is held annually on 22 March as a means of focusing attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources.

Solutions for the Green Economy

The Acces Water Blog by CH2MHILL.

Many Asian countries have been concerned about resource security and whether they will have enough food and energy at an accessible cost, and within tolerable risks, to meet projected demands.

Asia’s water crisis is at the heart of the world’s water challenges, where the degradation of surface and subterranean water resources threatens the ecosystem. With Asia facing the world’s lowest per capita access to fresh water, the continent’s ever-deeper search for water is sucking groundwater reserves dry with millions of pump-operated wells even as it confronts river depletion. Groundwater is recklessly exploited because it is not visible to the human eye. What is out of sight tends to be out of mind, as people drill ever deeper into the receding water table. At least seven factors have contributed to the rising economic and security risks linked with the Asian water crisis.

The global water crisis makes collaboration between business, NGOs and civil society essential for securing a sustainable, long term future for all. In Stockholm, 2,500 delegates have gathered for World Water Week to discuss the global water crisis and its effects on food security. Droughts and floods from America to Australia have devastated farms, frustrated civic leaders and caused food prices to skyrocket at a disturbing rate. Now companies are realising that water stewardship is both a moral imperative and makes smart business sense. With the world confronting a 40% gap between the planet’s supply and demand by 2030, the time to confront water scarcity is now.

Amid dire warnings, there are rays of hope emanating from around the world. People, not governments, who through ingenuity and hands on experience are creating productive farmland from arid land, fuel this hope. A report by Malik Falkenmark and colleagues at the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) states there will not be enough water available on current croplands to produce food for the projected population of nine billion people in 2050 if current diet trends continue. Amid warnings of water scarcity limiting food production, and as Oxfam and the United Nations prepare for a possible second global food crisis in five years, another report shows that there is water at the bottom of the well.

The International Water Management Institute, headed by Australian Dr Colin Chartes, was awarded the Stockholm Water Prize at last year’s Stockholm World Water Week. For this year’s event, being held from 26 August, IWMI have released research that finds that smallscale irrigation schemes can protect millions of farmers from food insecurity and climate change in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. As food prices escalate globally due to the failed monsoon season in Asia and the “super drought” in the US, the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), a CGIAR consortium research center, released a paper for Stockholm World Water Week titled “Water for wealth and food security: Supporting farmer-driven investments in agricultural water management” that find expanding the use of smallholder water management techniques could increase yields up to 300 percent in some cases, and add tens of billions of US dollars to household revenues across sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

In its RIO+20 Call-to-action, CGIAR called for “adopting cross-sectoral approaches which facilitate broader partnerships, coordinated regulatory frameworks and appropriate economic incentives. We need the vision and courage to transcend conventional sectoral approaches and apply integrated thinking to the management of agriculture, aquaculture, livestock, forests and water.” AlertNET wanted to find out more, and talked to Stephen Hall (Director General, WorldFish Center), Papa Seck (Director General, Africa Rice Center), Tony Simons (Director General, World Agroforestry Centre), Alain Vidal (Director, Challenge Program on Water and Food – CPWF), Amy Duchelle (Research Fellow, Center for International Forestry Research - CIFOR) and from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture - IITA), we have Peter Neuenschwander (Scientist Emeritus) and Piet van Asten (Systems Agronomist).

Bangladesh will advocate for a “green economy” approach that does not constrain poorer nations’ potential to grow at the U.N. conference on sustainable development in Rio de Janeiro this week. “We are concerned the green economy path will hamper our economic development. How effective will it be for poverty eradication?” Quazi Khaliquzzaman Ahmed, convener of Bangladesh’s climate change negotiation team, told AlertNet. “Unless poor countries get adequate funds from the major polluter (nations), it won’t be possible for them to green their economy.

Governments are set to weaken pledges on boosting access to water and energy after a new draft negotiating text was issued at the Rio+20 meeting. The text was issued by the Brazilian host government after it assumed leadership of the talks from the UN. It affirms that nations must not slide back on prior pledges and names ending poverty as the “greatest challenge”.

Imagine a world of spiralling food prices, water shortages and soaring energy costs. For many living in the world today, this nightmare scenario is already a reality. Even for the well-off living in developed economies, it is becoming all too familiar.

he headline in a New York newspaper last March captured the essence of a future potential threat to political stability the world over: “U.S. Report Sees Tensions Over Water.” The study, a collective vision of the U.S. intelligence community, warned that during the next 10 years, many countries important to the United States will “almost certainly experience water problems - shortages, poor water quality or floods - that will contribute to the risk of instability and state failure, and increase regional tensions.”

Since he was tapped by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to co-lead his global energy access initiative, UNIDO Director General, Kandeh Yumkella, has never missed an opportunity to underscore why access to energy is vital to the world’s poorest. “For poor people, it is about life and death,” he said as he delivered the keynote address at the 2012 Ashden Awards ceremony held in the United Kingdom.

Lowering consumption in the developed world, renewables, ending land grabs, a price for natural resources, private sector investment – what’s the answer?

Die Ressource Wasser ist knapp. Das ist nicht nur ein Problem der Wüstenzonen. Wasser muss gerechter verteilt werden, denn Industriestaaten verschwenden es schonungslos. Deutschland beteiligt sich an der Weltwasserdiskussion seit dem vergangenen Jahr mit der sogenannten Nexus-Diskussion.

One of the world’s key challenges in an increasingly challenging future will be balancing the water, food and energy equation, WWF predicted at the conclusion of this year’s World Water Week.