As the international community observed the UN World Water Day, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan were part of important talks at UN Headquarters in New York concerning water-sharing. These talks bring attention to a broader nexus of water, climate and energy security in Central Asia that is worth watching closely by both regional leaders and the international community.

The One UN Training Service Platform on Climate Change (UN CC:Learn) is a collaborative initiative involving 33 multilateral organizations which supports Member States, UN agencies and other development partners in designing and implementing country-driven, results-oriented and sustainable learning to address climate change. The initiative was launched at the 2009 Copenhagen Climate Change Summit. UN CC:Learn is included in the “One UN Climate Change Action Framework” of the UN System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB) through the HLCP capacity development group convened by UNDP and UNEP. The CEB framework aims at maximizing existing synergies, eliminating duplication and optimizing the impact of the collective effort of UN organizations in combatting climate change. UN CC:Learn contributes to the implementation of Article 6 of the UNFCCCon training and education, and the individual capacity development pillar of the UNFCCC Capacity Development Framework.

by Holger Hoff (SEI): Overview, Initial Scenarios, Charles Iceland (WRI): Hydropower, Vulnerability to and Impacts on Water Scarcity, Jakob Granit (SEI/SIWI): Water Energy Nexus Opportunities, Guy Pegram (Pegasys): Water Food Nexus Opportunities, Abby Onencan (Nile Basin Discourse): The Role of Science, Nexus, Cooperation

by Janos J. Bogardi, Executive Officer of GWSP

Using nexus thinking around water, energy and food leads to positive feedback loops and a brighter future for all - by SABMiller

The paper provides an overview of the current status of large scale artificial water storage development and its functions in the water, energy and food security nexus. The paper presents a typology of water storage structures and provides an analysis of the risks, benefits and trade-offs posed by different storage options. It also highlights good practices and lessons learned from past experiences and explores emerging opportunities for water storage schemes to enhance water, energy and food security in the future.

This year, the overarching theme of the World Water Week in Stockholm is Water and Food Security. Feeding the world population in the future with limited water resources means that we have to become better at growing more “crops per drop” as well as revisit our thinking regarding how we produce, consume, and trade food from a water perspective all along the food chain. The Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) is one of the key collaborating partners for the 2012 water and food security theme, along with the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).

The presentations during the conference on climate change, water, conflict and migration, held on 21 September 2011 in The Hague, the Netherlands, have been bundled as papers.

The rapid development of bioenergy, and in particular liquid biofuels, has generated considerable debate regarding their sustainability, and in particular the so-called “food versus fuel” competition. The links between bioenergy and food security are complex and multi-faceted. Making bioenergy development sustainable becomes even more challenging when one tries to capture its potential rural development, climate and energy security benefits. A sound and integrated approach is required in order to address these links and promote both “food and fuel”, and ensure that bioenergy contributes to sustainable development.

Lack of access to modern energy services in many parts of the world is a fundamental barrier to reducing hunger and ensuring that the world can produce enough food to meet current and future demand. More than 2 billion people lack access to modern energy services.

Co-chaired by Keshab Man Shakya, Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, Nepal, and Pema Gyamtsho, Minister of Agriculture and Forests, Bhutan, this side event highlighted local, national and regional knowledge-based solutions that are inclusive and supportive to the water, food and energy nexus and have promoted green growth strategies and reduced poverty. Organized by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), the Government of Nepal, Mountain Partnership, Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), EVK2CNR, Global Gender and Climate Alliance (GGCA).

The twentieth anniversary of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, or Rio+20, comes at a time when human-caused emissions have pushed our planet to the brink of a climate crisis. The effects of the global industrial economy brought planetary levels of carbon dioxide to a record high of 31.6 gigatonnes (Gt) in 2011, according to a 2012 International Energy Agency (IEA) report – only 1 Gt below the level that the IEA considers necessary to keep global temperatures from rising beyond 2°C. In response, many governments, banks, and corporations are increasingly looking to large hydropower dams to reduce fossil fuel use. Proponents claim that large hydropower dams will help usher in a “green economy.” Rather than achieving greater protection of the planet’s ecosystems from the demands of growing energy use, this policy direction will put an increasing burden on Earth’s freshwater species and habitats.

CGIAR calls for a focus on the entire agricultural landscape as an integrated system, which recognizes that isolated solutions will not reduce risks or achieve required progress in the same way as integrated approaches will. CGIAR calls for a focus on harmonizing food security and environmental sustainability through agricultural research and development. This will require us to minimize the harmful effects of agriculture on the environment through more efficient management of water, soils and agricultural inputs. CGIAR calls for the sustainable management of complex agricultural systems while maximizing agricultural productivity and improving the livelihoods and food/nutrition security of the poor.

In the face of climatic and other socioeconomic changes, most South Asian countries having large and growing population, limited land resources, and increasing water stress face a common challenge of how to grow more food with the same or less land, less water, and increased energy prices. This concept paper seeks deeper understanding of the interlinkages among water, energy, and food, which is crucial to formulate cross-sectoral policies for more resilient and adaptable societies. In South Asia, such a nexus approach inevitably needs to take Himalayan ecosystem services into account. Rice and wheat, the staple foods in South Asia, require huge amounts of both water and energy. The Indus-Ganges-Brahmaputra plain - the sub-region’s grain basket and one of the world’s largest areas of irrigated agriculture - depends in large part on the Himalayan mountain system as a source of both surface and groundwater for irrigation; as a source of hydropower; and as a regulator of climate and a repository of agro-biodiversity. To sustain these services and to ensure both upstream and downstream food, water, and energy security in South Asia, policies and strategies must therefore promote improved management of Himalayan watersheds, forests, wetlands, and rangelands. Recommended measures include support to restoration of natural water storage capacity; development of climate smart, environmentally and socially sound water infrastructure; adequate investment for natural resource management; and incentives to mountain communities for managing Himalayan ecosystems.

On 8 June, FAN Global submitted three top priorities on behalf of the WASH cluster to the NGO Major Group which will be compiled into a compendium along with all other cluster priorities. The final compendium will be attached to a document comprising of a brief introduction of agreed principles outlining key demands by all Major Groups.

This paper aims at identifying and recommending best practices and policies from global business to address the water-energy nexus, while outlining potential drivers of innovation.

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.

This article explores the population/water resources nexus by using empirical examples from Africa in order to isolate some of the strategically important issues that policymakers should recognize. Two distinct areas of Africa have been selected: first, “Southern Africa,” which for purposes of this article will mean countries belonging to the Southern African Development Community (SADC); and second, “East Africa,” which for purposes of this article will mean countries geographically located within the Nile River Basin.

Key messages to the 2012 Rio+20 Summit from the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI)

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.

“The report is indeed timely and very pertinent to our efforts in finding answers to some of the great questions of our time: how do we handle resource scarcities? How do we tackle climate change and mitigate its consequences? How does the growth of world population affect the globe? And – of course – what does all this imply for foreign policy?”

A joint report by the McKinsey Global Institute and McKinsey’s Sustainability & Resource Productivity Practice shows that the resource challenge can be met through a combination of expanding their supply and a step change in the way they are extracted, converted, and used. Resource productivity improvements that use existing technology would satisfy nearly 30 percent of demand in 2030. Fifteen areas, from more energy-efficient buildings to improved irrigation, could deliver 75 percent of the potential for higher resource productivity.

In the United States and Europe, at present 91% and 78% of the total electricity is produced by thermoelectric (nuclear and fossil-fuelled) power plants, which directly depend on the availability and temperature of water resources for cooling. During recent warm, dry summers several thermoelectric power plants in Europe and the southeastern United States were forced to reduce production owing to cooling-water scarcity. Here we show that thermoelectric power in Europe and the United States is vulnerable to climate change owing to the combined impacts of lower summer river flows and higher river water temperatures.

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.

The World Economic Forum’s “Water Security: The Water-Food-Energy-Climate Nexus” provides a first-ever comprehensive assessment of the global water security problem and collects contributions from leaders of government, business, NGOs, academics, entrepreneurs, financial experts, journalists and many others to share their perspectives on the common water challenge we face today. The contributing authors, consisting of academics from Columbia University and international organizations such as the Asian Development Bank and International Finance Corporation and industry leaders such as Dow Chemical Company, Nestlé, PepsiCo and The Coca-Cola Company outline the challenges and how they impact not only business, but also society and the planet as a whole.

for the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development

This statement reflects a collective opinion of the UN-Water Members and comprises recommendations to the participants of the UNCSD 2012 as well as a list of potential actions in support of green economic approaches.

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.

Water and energy are inextricably linked. Energy is needed to provide freshwater; and water is needed to produce most forms of energy. Climate change will hit through water. Power production is the largest single source of greenhouse gas emissions.

CLIMATE-L is a community announcement list for policy makers and practitioners involved in climate change policy. This free knowledge-sharing tool is managed and moderated by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) Reporting Services. CLIMATE-L is a peer-to-peer service meant to advance understanding of issues related to climate change by allowing subscribers to post announcements related to activities with a strong focus on climate change policy. CLIMATE-L offers users a tool to better publicize and coordinate their efforts through virtual knowledge exchange.

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

A voice from the ground, Edward Byers, PhD student from Newcastle/UK, gives his view of the NEXUS event at the German Pavilion in Rio.

The Rio+20 Summit is less than a month away. Policymakers and civil society representatives have been advocating for the inclusion of the nexus approach in “The Future We Want”, the outcome document of the negotiations — by Olimar Maisonet-Guzmán

World Bank Group identifies six key issues and key messages for Rio+20

On 13 April 2012 Germany officially submitted its application for Bonn to accommodate the headquarters of the Green Climate Fund (GCF). Uschi Eid, Co-Chairs of the Bonn2011 Nexus Conference, has recently been nominated as ambassadors to promote this application.

Why attempts to ensure water, food and energy security should focus on innovative bottom-up strategies rather than large multipurpose projects

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).

KTH Division of Energy Systems Analysis (DESA) invites PhD students and researchers with an interest in integrated resource modelling to the course on Integrated Assessment of Climate, Land Use, Energy and Water Systems. The course will be held in conjunction with an IAEA meeting hosted by the Swedish government at KTH with the same name, bringing together analysts from several countries as well as leading modelers and academics.

This seminar, organised by ICID.UK and the UEA Water Security Research Centre with support from NERC, will examine global and local irrigation policy in the context of drought and high food prices.

The Great Lakes and Great Lakes states are in the midst of a remarkable and confounding ecological and economic transition related to climate change and the fossil energy sector that industries and scientists are busy trying to anticipate and understand.

This seminar will analyse how the water-food nexus is being affected by climate change in two of the more important mountain regions of the world: the Andes and the Himalayas. The seminar will review concepts, discuss relevant cases that address different dimensions of the water-food nexus and innovative approaches for dealing with depleting resources, as well as provide guidance to mitigate the impact of the vulnerable water-food nexus in developing regions.

Singapore International Water Week (SIWW) 2012 provides the platform to address today’s challenges and explore opportunities in the integration of water solutions and urban planning in cities around the world. Opportunities abound for global water leaders and practitioners from the public and private sectors to debate in water dialogues, network with key industry players, showcase leading-edge technologies and best practices and identify viable solutions to address this common challenge.

By highlighting the linkages among climate change risks and opportunities, sustainable development and adaptation, this session will explore how companies can integrate and build effective resilience measures into their business strategies, operations and throughout the value chain.

A high level debate on the climate security agenda in the Amazon and worldwide

This event will profile some of the world’s most innovative “natural capital partnerships” implementing integrated approaches toward the transition to green growth and green economies today. It will promote a south-south knowledge exchange and commitments from Mexico, the Coastal Eastern Africa region and Asia’s Greater Mekong Subregion.

The Africa Water Week (aww) is organized by the African Ministers Council on Water (AMCOW) and represents a political commitment at the highest level with over 1000 participants from governments, regional institutions, international partners, the private sector, the scientific community, civil society, and the media from all over the world, and in particular Africa, meeting to discuss and collectively seek solutions to Africa’s water and sanitation challenges.

Stanford experts from a range of disciplines will discuss the interconnections and interactions among humanity’s needs for and use of water, food, energy, and environment.

A NEXUS session to analyse the different nexus connections, chaired by Jamie Pittock

Rio de Janeiro

Innovation and Collaboration for the Future We Want

The Forum is organised by ICSU, in partnership with UNESCO, the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO), the International Social Science Council (ISSC), the Brazilian Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation and the Brazilian Academy of Sciences.

The Congress will explore the topics of resilient and sustainable cities with a focus on climate change adaptation and mitigation together with the impacts and responses of climate change on water resources. Reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, operating in a carbon constrained world and a focus on renewable energy including practical applications and integration in to the energy mix will be covered.

Resource security matters for India. It has to simultaneously secure energy, water and other minerals to support economic growth; meet basic needs for food, fuel and water for a growing population; and manage the environmental constraints and consequences of increased resource use.

An integrated perspective could help countries in the region find more effective approaches to climate-smart development, mitigation and adaptation, the SEI researcher says.

Together with the Rockefeller Foundation, the UN Climate Change secretariat has launched a new initiative to recognize the critical role of women in fighting climate change: “Momentum for Change: Women for Results.” “Women have the power to make a major difference. They are at the nexus between food, water and energy. This nexus is both the challenge and the solution to climate change, and we need to ensure women’s leadership in bringing about the solutions,” said UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres.

The relationship between water and food production is in focus at this year’s World Water Week in Stockholm. Climate-related issues like droughts are just one factor putting pressure on the world’s water resources. “Water is life. It is the heart of a green economy. That’s why we must talk about water efficiency,” stressed Kenza Robinson, the secretary of UN-Water who also works at the United Nations Department of Economics and Social Affairs.

There’s no better time than now for the American public to appreciate the “water-energy-food nexus,” or as I like to call it, the “liquid triangle of life”. To farmers across the U.S., particularly the Midwest, it’s painfully obvious: The historic drought, sweeping across the land like a silent tsunami, is wreaking economic, environmental, and emotional havoc in its wake. It should be a wake-up call for all of us to value water, appreciate the embedded role it plays in our economy, and manage it wisely (saving for a rainy day as well as preparing for rain-less days).

Michel Jarraud, WMO Secretary-General said: “Climate change is projected to increase the frequency, intensity and duration of droughts, with impacts on many sectors, in particular food, water, and energy. We need to move away from a piecemeal, crisis-driven approach and develop integrated risk-based national drought policies.”

The World Water Week 2012 in Stockholm will zoom in on food security and the global water situation. This is warranted not least from the perspective of the increasing imbalances in global food security. In this article, Dr. Anders Jägerskog sums up the thrust of a report he edited on this topic, which is meant to provide input for the Week’s deliberations.

Unless we move quickly to adopt new population, energy, and water policies, the goal of eradicating hunger will remain just that. Time is running out. The world may be much closer to an unmanageable food shortage – replete with soaring food prices, spreading food unrest, and ultimately political instability– than most people realise.

Water, energy, food - these three issues are the essential holy trinity of environmental sustainability. They are maddeningly intertwined and their effect reaches everyone – private, public, and social sectors alike. Because everyone is affected by each of these issues, and because they are so intertwined, everyone needs to be at the table. No one entity, no matter how large, can save us from ourselves.

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.

Recommendations by CARE International for Rio+20 – According to the CARE report launched today entitled “One Planet - One Future: Equity and resilience for sustainable development”, climate change, food insecurity and unequal distribution of rights are pressing burdens mainly shouldered by the poorest people. They are increasingly affected by more severe disasters such as floods or droughts and they have limited safety nets to rely on in times of hardship. Among the most vulnerable people are women and girls, who are often responsible for providing food and water to their families, yet may have no rights to own land or participate in decisions that affect their lives. “Only by tackling climate change, food insecurity and gender inequality we can build resilience of local communities and deliver equity and social justice for poor women and men,” says Vaughan.

“Along with thousands of government delegates, activists, academics, business chiefs and other journalists I’m making my way this week to Rio de Janeiro,” says BBC’s correspondent Richard Black.

What are the EU’s policy options? In my view, it’s a matter of getting the balance right between a range of long-term, location-specific policies that take a holistic approach to promoting efficiency and penalising waste. These policies could include co-operation at the level of watersheds, integrated water planning and management, and applying a lifecycle perspective to the energy production chain. Inter-ministerial task-forces could co-ordinate different policy objectives, while valuing and paying for water ecosystem services, and ending perverse subsidies could also be part of the mix.

Der Klimawandel bedroht die Stromerzeugung in den USA und Europa, weil in heißen Sommern das Kühlwasser knapp wird. Ohne ausreichende Kühlung sind Kraftwerke nicht zu betreiben, warnen Forscher. Der Sektor müsse sich dringend anpassen - sonst drohten Fehlinvestitionen.

Hunderttausenden Menschen droht eine ökologische Katastrophe: Ein gigantischer äthiopischer Staudamm könnte dazu führen, dass der Turkana-See in Kenia noch weiter austrocknet. Die Region gilt jetzt schon als eine der gewalttätigsten Afrikas - die Konflikte würden sich weiter verschärfen.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have become a contentious proposal among Member States that are currently negotiating the outcome document for Rio+20. Member States and the international community are looking for the successors of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which will expire in 2015. The current framework helped the international community to rally behind a common understanding of poverty eradication, and it provided targets and indicators to guide policy decisions. However, the MDGs overemphasised economic poverty and gave limited attention to the structural causes of poverty or to sustainable development.

Can the world support the aspirations for food and energy of the 7 billion people that now inhabit it? Will we meet the needs of the additional 2 billion people that we expect will be here by 2050? More than ever, the answers to these questions depend on how wisely we use the world’s fresh water resources — to both meet our own needs and to sustain the basic water requirements of all life that inhabits our blue planet.

“Agriculture is at the nexus of three of the greatest challenges of the 21st century-achieving food security, adapting to climate change, and mitigating climate change while critical resources such as water, energy and land become increasingly scarce”.

Agriculture and a focus on land and soil should be central to both this year’s UNFCCC climate talks and the Earth Summit in June.

Assessment of human-environment systems together is so important, the document stresses, because the interdependence of Earth system processes affects ecosystems, human communities, and socio-economic sectors. Key resources – water, energy, and food – are strongly connected to the environment and are thus vulnerable to global change.

The three-day conference with the title ‘Water in the GCC States: The Water-Energy-Food Nexus’ and under the patronage of Minister of Energy and Industry H E Dr Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada, will witness top officials from GCC and Arab and international water, energy, and food professionals.

The northern region of Gujarat State in western India (map) is semi-arid and prone to droughts, receiving almost all of its rain during the monsoon season between June and September. But for the past three decades, many crop and dairy farms have remained green — even during the dry season. The challenge for Gujarat and other areas lies at what is commonly known these days as the water-energy nexus. Broadly speaking, the term refers to the ways in which water and energy resources are interdependent.

Tensions over land, water and food: The Arab awakening was driven not only by political and economic stresses, but, less visibly, by environmental, population and climate stresses