Speech by EU Commissioner Janez Potočnik at UN General Assembly Debate on Sustainable Development about Energy-Water Nexus.

A briefing paper from the German Development Institute.

The sustainable and integrated management of the resources land, water and energy is indispensable for any future development strategy. The way to link the management of these resources to green growth is through the focus on eco-innovations. In this first webinar of the Water-Energy-Food Security Nexus Lecture Series, Prof. Dr. Harald Sander talks about the concept of eco-innovations. Before that, Prof. Dr. Lars Ribbe gives a short introduction to the issues in the Water, Energy, Food Nexus.”

One possible new impetus for development is the idea of so-called Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which has emerged in the run-up to the Rio+20 Summit. It is still unclear if these goals will find sufficient backing, what they would include and when they would be implemented. Yet, some important aspects have to be considered in order to avoid mentioned past shortcomings of both UN processes. A balance and interconnectedness of issues is essential both to emphasize the interlinkages and to address the criticism of an environmental bias in the Rio Process. Importantly, central issues like poverty eradication must not be neglected. Additionally, measuring success is of importance. Here, measuring techniques as well as the quality of data collection have to be taken seriously. Institutional backing is equally important. This is relevant for the structures of international governance of development which have to be embedded in competent institutions and for implementation on national and local level where often-praised “ownership” has to be realized. Content: From MDGs to SDGs? - Balancing issues - Interconnecting issues - Measuring success - Institutional backing - Strong signal for post 2015 - by Stine Klapper and Nicole Kranz

Held at the Second Annual Conference on Climate Change and Development in Africa Addis Ababa, 19-20 October 2012, by Gisela Prasad, Energy Research Centre, University of Cape Town

In June 2012, heads of state will gather at the Rio+20 conference in Brazil to explore the theme “The Future We Want.” The focus of the conference is the green economy. Exactly what a green economy is and should be, and with what measures and instruments it should be implemented, has not yet been defined and is the topic of intense political debate. Nevertheless, efforts are being made to develop a “Green Economy Roadmap.” Rio+20 should not simply be a repetition of previous international conferences. Instead it must offer a true breakthrough on the path to a social, just, low-carbon and resource-efficient world - by Barbara Unmüßig.

“The nexus approach embeds the opinion water, energy and food security cannot be achieved in single sector methodology. Considering the interlinkages between water, energy and land is crucial for achieving sustainable development objectives.” - Agriwaterpedia is an initiative to foster the provision of approaches and good practices, and to draw data from experiences and lessons learnt from a variety of development countries. The platform is also an instrument to trigger communication and actively promote knowledge exchange.

by Alain Vidal CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food

The website for the Year of Water Cooperation is now online. The objective of this International Year is to raise awareness, both on the potential for increased cooperation, and on the challenges facing water management in light of the increase in demand for water access, allocation and services. The Year will highlight the history of successful water cooperation initiatives, as well as identify burning issues on water education, water diplomacy, transboundary water management, financing cooperation, national/international legal frameworks, and the linkages with the Millennium Development Goals. It also will provide an opportunity to capitalize on the momentum created at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), and to support the formulation of new objectives that will contribute towards developing water resources that are truly sustainable.

Three focal areas need to be addressed for a transition to a Green Urban Economy, which promotes environmental well-being and improved quality of living for all income groups (i.e. Green Jobs and Poverty Eradication; Financing and Green Investments; Effective Governance and Institutions). The messages and their conditions offer potential ways to address environmental and social concerns in an economically viable way at the local level.

Rio+20 displays a momentum for action. It justifies and requires broad attention. For those who want to use it, the Rio Agreement delivers options and opportunities, for those who do not want to advance the pursuit of sustainability the document does not give a leverage to turn backwards. The positive momentum is clearly insufficient against the benchmark of deliverables that seemed possible, and it is definitely so when judged against what appears to be necessary in order to face global issues. Nevertheless, the momentum is greater than publicly perceived at this moment. Translated into action, it may even turn out as more challenging than major parts of civil society are prepared to cope with.

The world’s current growth patterns are not only unsustainable, they are also deeply inefficient. That is why inclusive green growth is necessary and urgent. It is also far more affordable for countries to act now than to grow dirty and expect to clean up later when growth patterns may be irreversible and will certainly be expensive and socially disruptive to change. Inclusive green growth increases efficiency by reducing unnecessary wasting of energy and natural resources, improving urban planning to make the best use of public transport and other services, creating multiuse infrastructure, and eliminating fossil fuel subsidies that provide greater benefit to the wealthy and are a costly way to help the poor. The real challenges to inclusive green growth are governance failures, entrenched behaviors and financing constraints – all of which can be overcome. At Rio, we would like to see widespread endorsement of and commitment to inclusive green growth. The private sector has a key role to play, as well, in terms of innovative financing and business models that can leader to sustainable growth today and less waste, pollution and energy use tomorrow.

As you gather for crucial deliberations on the occasion of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (“Rio+20 ”), we wish to urge you to take decisive action during and after this Summit on one of our world’s great challenges – water. Water is well recognized as one of the critical sustainability challenges of the 21st century. Problems related to water availability, quality, and sanitation are undermining development in many regions of the world – exacting an enormous human cost while also undermining critical life-giving ecosystems. At the same time, it is important to consider the strong linkages between water-related challenges and other sustainability issues, including energy, arable land and food security. Indeed, water is a profoundly cross-cutting issue. The escalating water crisis is the impetus behind the UN Global Compact’s CEO Water Mandate initiative, launched by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in July 2007 and today endorsed by nearly 100 major corporations, representing hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue. The endorsers of the CEO Water Mandate are eager to collaborate more actively with Governments at all levels.

This report analyses how combinations of technological measures and changes in consumption patterns could contribute to achieving a set of sustainability objectives, taking into account the interlinkages between them. The potential exists for achieving all of the objectives.

Water for Life Decade website by UN Water with updated information on Water in Rio+20

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).

Presentation on the ERD 2011/12 by Dirk Willem te Velde and Imme Scholz, given at the UNCSD (Rio+20) on 19 June 2012

Yesterday, the European Commission and the Government of the United Kingdom organised a side-event at the Rio+20 Conference to present the European Report on Development (ERD) 2011/2012 and discuss its findings in the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals. Following the launch of the report in Brussels in May, a number of other events have been organised throughout Europe to present and debate its findings on national level, involving civil society, governments and media. The series of events led to the Rio+20 Conference.

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.

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.

Fairfood International has released “The Food Future We Want”, a set of documents outlining our demands of the food and beverage industry in respect to the priority areas of Rio+20. With the aid of these demands, we aim to show how the food and beverage industry is responsible for making changes to achieve a sustainable food economy and how the decisions made at Rio+20 can facilitate this. In this set of documents, six accompanying demand briefings are provided according to the six priority areas on the Rio+20 agenda. The six demand briefings aim to outline what we expect from food and beverage companies in accordance with their corporate responsibility. Each demand briefing includes a brief introduction to the issue at hand, the connection to the food industry, possible solutions, and a list of our demands. The six demands relate to: Decent jobs, Energy, Food security and Sustainable agriculture, Water, Oceans and Disaster readiness.

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.

An unconventional approach that involves building alliances between groups competing for limited land and water resources has the potential to dramatically increase food production, boost rural incomes, improve human health and restore degraded land, rivers and habitats, according to a report released today by a newly launched global coalition of leading research, advocacy and multilateral organizations. The coalition, known as the Landscapes for People, Food and Nature Initiative, a collaborative international initiative with ten co-organizers, warns, however, that world leaders must use the upcoming Rio+20 global sustainable development conference to dramatically scale up the”whole landscape” approach – if planet-wide food and environmental crises are to be averted. The whole landscape approach will figure prominently in discussions at Rio+20.

Twenty years after the first sustainable development conference in Rio de Janeiro, the planet and its inhabitants are under increasing pressure. By 2030, the world will need at least 50% more food, 45% more energy and 30% more water to meet the needs of the growing population – and its increasing consumption patterns. This comes at a time when we are increasingly confronting the planet’s resource limitations and globally there are still 1.3 billion people living on less than $1.25 a day.

The global increase in population, both rural and urban, and the socio-economic development with increasing living standards for all, will continuously raise the requirement for water, food and energy consumption. Populations will continue to concentrate in cities where the need for water, food and energy will be most acute. The rapid population growth and socio-economic development means that by 2050: The continuously increasing demands ofwater, food and energy will challenge the natural resources. We need to face this exceptional situation because at the same time.

A few years ago, I was invited to present the OECD’s International Futures Programme at a meeting on long-term issues organised by the UK’s Foresight project. Each of us outlined our group’s approach to strategic questions, explaining why we chose a particular time horizon. Mostly it was what you’d expect (50 years at least in the energy business, a minute or less for financiers). The most surprising contribution, for me at least, was from the chief economist of a big mining group who said that they didn’t bother with strategic planning and that, in essence, when the price of a mineral went up they got out their shovels and started digging and when it dropped, they leaned on their shovels until the price rose again. If there was nothing left worth digging out, they looked at their geological surveys and moved elsewhere.

Rio+20 aspires to create “the future we want,” an epochal economic transformation to sustainable production and consumption. The international water community shares this aspiration, though it requires major innovation in the way water is managed. The fundamental requirement of the green economy is that it delivers food, water and energy security for all, a requirement challenged by climate and land-use change and its key impact—more volatile and less secure water supplies. Water security underlies all dimensions of human health and well-being, and is fundamental to both food and energy production. The green economy is inconceivable without diligent and highly efficient stewardship of this precious resource from raindrop to tap and back to raindrop.

Twenty years after the international community meeting in Rio de Janeiro agreed on the triad of ecological, economic and social sustainability, the subject of the green economy is gaining ground in debates on the environment and development. Many international organisations have developed their own definitions and programmes designed to boost economic growth, create jobs and protect natural resources all at the same time. In view of the ecological, social and economic problems caused by the overuse of natural resources and the continued increase in greenhouse gas emissions, the question of a sustainable economic order is more urgent than ever. Even the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, or the Rio+20 Summit for short, is dominated by the green economy debate, which is almost threatening to supplant the established concept of sustainability. Although it is emphasised that sustainable development remains the contracting parties’ principal objective and that the achievement of the green economy is only a means to that end, most of the proposed measures and the debates have so far focused on strengthening environmentally compatible growth, with little attention paid to possible unintended effects on society and ecosystems. For human development and ecosystems, however, the water sector plays a key role in the implementation of many green economy projects. This paper therefore analyses the extent to which the green economy may help the water sector to achieve sustainable development and to meet the major challenges. It reaches the conclusion that, while the attention paid to the water sector that accompanies the debate on the green economy is good, the concept has serious weaknesses.

We all need food, water and energy. These come from nature. We need nature. World leaders need to react to the natural crisis we are facing, rethink how we use and manage the earth’s resources, and redesign a sustainable future. Rio+20 is an opportunity for governments to get serious by building on the success of the first Earth Summit in 1992, and the sustainable development successes since then. A video message by Jim P. Leape of WWF.

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.

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

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

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

The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), working in close collaboration with the partners in its 8 regional member countries in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region, commits itself to generating knowledge solutions for sustainable nexus solution.

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.

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.

This report, based on an analysis of data from more than 130 countries, looks at the issues that pertain to the management, development and use of fresh water resources. Its starting point is in the Earth Summit’s Agenda 21 recommendation for an integrated approach to the management of water resources. It is intended to inform decision-making at the Rio+20 conference and follow-up global policy discourses. It will facilitate information exchange to enhance the coherence and impact of national efforts to improve water resources management and related work of the UN and other external support agencies at country level.

This report, based on an analysis of data from more than 130 countries, looks at the issues that pertain to the management, development and use of fresh water resources. Its starting point is in the Earth Summit’s Agenda 21 recommendation for an integrated approach to the management of water resources. It is intended to inform decision-making at the Rio+20 conference and follow-up global policy discourses. It will facilitate information exchange to enhance the coherence and impact of national efforts to improve water resources management and related work of the UN and other external support agencies at country level.

UNCCD secretariat Recommendations for Policymakers: A Sustainable Development Goal for Rio+20 to secure the contribution of our planet’s land and soil to sustainable development, including food security and poverty eradication

Interview with Dirk Willem te Velde, team leader for drafting of the ERD 2011/12

Message from the International Conference on Transboundary River Basin Management, Phuket, 1-3 May 2012

The role of Water in the Green Economy was a major theme at the World Water Forum last month, and promises to be a central issue at Rio+20 and beyond. Ethical implications are everywhere, starting with framing the issue. Is it about how better water management can contribute to sustainable (Green) economic growth? Or is it about how green economic strategies can contribute to healthier water ecosystems?

As the world prepares for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), there is growing recognition that the greatest challenges facing us today—feeding people, fighting poverty, addressing climate change, and procuring energy for all—cannot be solved piecemeal. While the 1992 Rio conference produced agreements on climate change, biodiversity, and drylands, there is now a push to take an integrated approach that recognizes the critical nexus between water, energy, and food and the complex interactions between ecosystems and human activity, especially in a changing climate.

1-4 May 2012 Inn at the Forks, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Presentation by the German Ministries BMZ and BMU at a side event to the 3rd Intersessional Meeting of the UNCSD, 22 March 2012

Side event at WWF6, co-convened by the EUWI Africa Working Group and AMCOW Secretariat – The Hungarian Presidency Issues Paper resulted in council conclusions calling for the development of a “Comprehensive policy and implementation framework” on water in developing countries that should promote international initiatives and partnerships to better address the water-energy-food security nexus.

Water security for a green economy – Institutional effectiveness – Integrated approaches – Leadership – Future strategy

On 11-12 January, the World Economic Forum’s Network of Global Agenda Councils and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) convened a group of leading experts and practictioners representing the private sector, international organisations, civil society and academia to explore the linkages between population and water, energy and food security. The group calls for effectively integrating population and demographics in international policies for sustainable development.

The Conference Synopsis was produced by OOSKAnews. It is an easy-to-read document summarizing the Conference highlights, enriched by quotes from high-level Conference participants; it also includes various case studies.

Water security in the 21st century requires an integrated approach to water resources management

by André Liebaert, European Commission - Presentation at the BONN 2011 NEXUS CONFERENCE

Presentation by Josefina Maestu, UN Water Decade Program on Advocacy and Communication - Presentation at the BONN 2011 NEXUS CONFERENCE

by Zafar Adeel, Chair of UN-Water - Presentation at the BONN 2011 NEXUS CONFERENCE

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.

Felix Dodds, as Executive Director of Stakeholder Forum for a Sustainable Future, took an active part in the preparation of the Bonn2011 Conference. Now, a year after the conference, he summarises the learnings and gives an outlook on the necessary next steps.

The “Greenius” - or Green Genius - competition is seeking innovative solutions to questions of food, water and energy sustainability such as “How to keep bills down for consumers and businesses?” or “How to better manage our energy, food and water resources?”

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.

An interview with Albert Butare, Co-Chair of the Bonn2011 Nexus Conference and NEXUS ambassador

The Rio Dialogues have set up a website to vote which challenges are most urgent and which solution approaches are most promising.

The SEI’s work on the water, energy and food security nexus – an interview with Holger Hoff

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

Asia Pacific Youth Task Force on RIO +20 is organizing the Asia Pacific Photo-Story Contest 2012 to mark the Voices of Youth globally in RIO+20, The UN Conference on Sustainable Development which is going to be held on June 20-22 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

German-Rwandan Side event on the Nexus on 22nd March before the 3rd Intersessional Meeting of the UNCSD

Cutting down on the amount of food that is wasted around the world is a key component of water management, according to Dr. Colin Chartres, general director of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI).

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon highlights “nexus approach” while urging that environmental, social and economic aspects of development be integrated

Platform to contribute to a better understanding of the interlinkages between water, energy and food security and to provide access to all kinds of Nexus-related information

To allocate scarce resources efficiently, it is vital to understand the inter-dependencies between the distinct areas of water, energy and food, says Joppe Cramwinckel

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

Organizations from the Asia Pacific Region contribute to the debate around water, energy and food security

Solving energy challenges cannot come at the cost of achieving water security goals

A video interview with Elizabeth Thompson, Executive Coordinator for Rio+20

Solutions should meet consumption needs, but do so in an environmentally sustainable way.

We only have a limited amount of freshwater on this planet, so how do we use it?

Third meeting of the German Advisory Group on 13 September

Third meeting of the International Steering Committee (ISC) on 7-8 September 2011

Why the Nexus lens is crucial for Rio+20 and beyond

Interview with Tariq Banuri, Director of the Sustainable Development Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA)

International experts comment on the main topics of the Bonn2011 Nexus Conference

Consultation process shaped by representatives from the spheres of politics, business and civil society

First meeting of experts in December 2010 in Bonn

The objective of the meeting is to allow for more profound technical and political debate and synthesize the discussions of two of the three streams of the water consultation: Water Resources Management and Wastewater Management & Water Quality.

On 26 November 2012, the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) conducts a one day meeting for young professionals in Koblenz, Germany, to discuss the water and energy nexus.

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).

In preparation for a Resource Summit to be held in Berlin, Germany in 2013, the Heinrich Böll Foundation offices in Kenya and Ethiopia are calling for applicants from Ethiopia, Kenya, North Sudan, South Sudan, South Central Somalia/Somaliland/Puntland and Tanzania to participate in a regional 3-days workshop to be held between 5th - 10th, November 2012 in Nairobi, Kenya. This workshop will apply the Future Workshop methodology to identify topics and innovative approaches of young people with regard to resource policy.

WaterLex, with the sponsorship of the permanent missions of Costa Rica, Ecuador, Germany and Spain, invites to a side event on “The Future of Water in the United Nations System”, Wednesday 19th September, 1-4pm, Room XXIV, Palais des Nations.

This side event aims to contribute to the “The Future We Want” outcome document by highlighting the need to better manage mountain natural resources as global public goods supplying water for life, food for health, and clean energy for livelihoods.

Insights from the European Report on Development

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 central aspect of the Green Economy is water, energy and food security in particular for the bottom billion. In order to achieve this, it is of vital importance to consider the interlinkages and the interactions between the sectors. Incoherent approaches and “silo-thinking” will most likely worsen the situation further.

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.

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

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.

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 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.

The event aims to present fully gender and development issues which are vigorously embedded within the framework of fundamental human rights and gender justice in the Asia-Pacific region and in many parts of the world. It hopes to elevate further the discussions on the theme of green economy and gender equality, justice and human rights with special focus on water, energy, and food nexus , to a broader and more significant audience , during the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, Rio+20 , in Rio de Janiero Brazil, June 2012.

The Water Day will concentrate on UN-Water contribution to the Rio+20 Conference, building on the UN-Water Statement and on the UN-Water deliverables for Rio+20, and will engage in high-level panel discussions on the relevance of water in the Rio+20 outcomes.

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

Green Economic Growth calls for a strong integration of spatial planning / development and river basin management. Putting joint co-creation processes central and to balance upcoming request within available resources can provide a framework for the paradigm change required.

The 12th edition of Green Week, the biggest annual conference on European environment policy.

Solutions for the Green Economy

Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro

Rio De Janeiro

The General Assembly specified that a three-day PrepCom should convene in May 2010, a two-day PrepCom should convene in March 2011, and a three-day PrepCom should convene immediately before the UNCSD (PrepCom III).

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.

Masdar, for the first time, will be discussing energy, water and hunger issues under one umbrella during the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) from January 13 to 17, it said on Tuesday. Earlier this year, during the Rio +20 Earth Summit in Brazil, it had announced its plans to organise the ADSW. Offering further details, Masdar CEO Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber said: “The week builds on the momentum created at the Rio+20, particularly in advancing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which will guide the sustainability agenda for the next 20 years.”

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.

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.

It is in the interests of big business to work with government to ensure the best use of water in an increasingly water-stressed country.

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).

Researchers from the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) have published an article, titled “Managing the Water-Land-Energy Nexus for Sustainable Development,” arguing that systemic thinking and integrated solutions are needed to successfully develop and implement sustainable development goals (SDGs) in the follow-up to the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20).

We live in the Anthropocene in which humans have become a major force shaping the environment. Rising incomes and reduced poverty have coincided with the growing demand for goods and services, such as food and energy, which in turn has increased the pressure on natural resources and ecosystems leading to their over-exploitation and degradation. Climate change adds to this predicament, as several climate adaptation and mitigation measures such as irrigation, desalination, or biofuels, are also resource intensive. In a recent attempt to quantify the limits of global resources, the Planetary Boundaries framework, a critical environmental threshold beyond which rapid and unexpected systemic or “regime” shifts may be triggered, was developed. This framework tries to establish global limits for water, land, and energy use (atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration as a proxy), and for other natural resources, such as nutrients or biodiversity.

Forty five influential CEOs commit to lobbying for political change to stave off water crisis – It’s not often that you get 45 of the world’s most powerful CEOs calling on governments to push up the price of a key resource. But this is exactly what happened today when companies ranging from Coca Cola, Nestle, Glaxo SmithKline, Merck and Bayer signed a special communiqué at the Rio+20 conference on sustainable development highlighting the urgency of the global water crisis and calling on governments to step up their efforts and to work more actively with the private sector, civil society and other stakeholders to address it.

The water-energy nexus has been coming into focus over the last couple of years. The idea is that water and energy are inextricably linked: it takes water to make energy and energy to clean and move water. In the last year or so, a third critical human resource has been added to the mix: food. Theoretically, we can better and more sustainably manage each of these resources if we understand their impact on each other. This week the water-energy-food nexus hit prime time at Rio+20, with meetings following out from reports at the 2011 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland; a dedicated meeting in Bonn, Germany; and the Sixth World Water Forum in Marseilles, France, in March. These meetings have reached similar conclusions: The water, energy and food security nexus will be one of the major challenges in achieving universal access to these resources without compromising the health and stability of the environment.

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.

Management of water resources needs “substantial improvement and actual reform in many countries,” and an integrated management is significant for “the most valuable natural resources,” Olcay Unver from the UNESCO’s water assessment program told Xinhua. “There has been some improvement over the the past decade or so, but we would very much like to see this expedited mostly by national government,” the director of UENSCO Program Office for Global Water Assessment said in a recent interview.

One of the themes of Rio+20 is ‘green growth’. The first and most obvious question will be ‘Can there be such a thing as green growth?’ and for me the answer is an emphatic ‘Yes’ - as long as there is a paradigm shift in the way that governments, the private sector and consumers think about resources.

The world’s demand for fresh water is growing so fast that, by 2030, agriculture, industry and expanding cities will face such scarce supplies that the confrontation could disrupt economic development and threaten political stability and public health. People in places as disparate as north Africa, Central Valley, California, and India’s northern states, among others, are already facing similar threats to their livelihoods, while population growth, ageing infrastructure, pollution and resource-intensive ways of life are putting a huge strain on local fresh water supplies.

Agriculture’s heavy dependence on fossil fuels is undermining the sector’s ability to feed the world, perpetuating poverty and undermining efforts to build a more sustainable world economy, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said on Wednesday. The warning came as the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation released a study on “Energy-smart” food production and use ahead of the Rio+20 conference on sustainable development, where global energy challenges will feature high on the agenda. Together, the world’s food production systems – from the farms where food is grown to further along the processing and marketing chain – consume 30 per cent of all available energy, the FAO study shows.

The interconnectedness of energy, water and food has been the prime focus of international discussions this year. In March, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) organized the 10th annual World Water Day, with the theme of Food and Water Nexus. Energy is a third and important component because to produce food, we need both water and energy. A connection can be easily drawn: to produce energy we need water, and to clean and deliver water for livelihood and food production, we need energy. Hence, we have the Water-Food-Energy Nexus.

Environment secretary says it’s time to shatter the myth that you can’t be green and growing – The clouds may be gathering around the Rio +20 Earth Summit next week with walkouts marring last-minute talks, the negotiating text remaining a mess of brackets and clauses, commentators convinced the summit will end as a damp squib, and the row over David Cameron’s refusal to attend refusing to die down.

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”.

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.

Richard Matthews on the Messages of WWF’s Living Planet Report – The WWF’s Living Planet Report (LPR) is the world’s leading science-based analysis on the health of the Earth and the impact of human activity. The ninth biennial publication released in May, reviews the cumulative pressures humans are putting on the planet and the consequent decline in the health of the forests, rivers and oceans. Its key finding is that humanity’s demands are exceeding the planet’s capacity to sustain us.

No resource is more fundamental than water to the health and security of people and the environment. Yet the alarm bells are ringing as this finite, yet essential, natural resource comes under increasing pressure from growing demand, poor management and climate change creating a growing global water challenge. With Rio+20 on the immediate horizon, and a focus on water, energy and food, water will be an issue that world and business leaders are likely to find absorbed into their agendas - and rightly so. Water scarcity and stress is not only an issue of protecting ecosystem and biodiversity, but is also presents a real and present risk to local communities, business and world economies.

The international community needs to agree on a sustainable development goal with a measurable target of achieving zero net land degradation by 2030. Such a bold decision would enhance efforts in all regions of the world to restore degraded land and sustainably manage non-degraded land by means of Sustainable Land Management (SLM) practices and techniques. “Land is the earth’s natural and indispensable infrastructure for life,” and demands “sustainable land use for all and by all, especially in the agricultural activities.” Dr Mansour N’Diaye, Chef de Cabinet, United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) made these remarks this morning at the opening of the Asia Regional Media Workshop on Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought taking place in Chifeng, Inner Mongolia, China.

“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.

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.”

The Water-energy-food nexus (or other permutations) is increasingly finding itself in the public discourse surrounding development and sustainability. It is a concept that is easy to understand on the face of things, yet like a ball of wool unravels itself into a myriad of complex and dynamic relationships. In fact some have long studied some of the components in detail, such as water use for agriculture and use of crops for bioenergy. And yet despite the fact that these three resources are amongst the most important resources for human survival, the attention they have received as a single interdependent issue has been inadequate. – This is of interest to me in particular because my research is based around the water-energy nexus. Indeed, there is an aspect of food/agriculture in there too, which would be more prominent if the UK aimed to source all of its food from the UK … I digress.

Water, energy and land are headline issues in the run-up to Rio+20. The 2012 European Report on Development (ERD), which has its UK launch at DFID on 11 June, and a launch in Berlin on 14 June, puts the knotty problem of increasing scarcity and interconnections between these resources centre-stage: the Water, Energy and Land (WEL) nexus. There are still hopes that outcomes from Rio will bridge between environmental and developmental agendas, for example by agreeing a mandate to set Sustainable Development Goals. Such big ideas will need to be backed up by other radical rethinks in the way we approach our environment, societies and economies.

Tens of millions of new jobs can be created around the world in the next two decades if green policies are put in place to switch the high-carbon economy to low-carbon, the UN has said.

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.

More technological innovation is needed to fight growing resource scarcity, but it will only be successful in achieving sustainable development if it considers the use of water, energy and land as interdependent issues, according to a European report. Investment in innovation is required for sustainable agriculture, for achieving more efficient use of water and energy, and for rolling out renewable energy technologies, says the ‘European Report on Development 2011–2012’, funded by the European Commission and seven European states.

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.

Global demand for energy will increase 30 percent by 2030, according to estimates, but in regions that are experiencing rapid economic growth, the increased demand for energy will lead to increased demand for water. The conflicting nature of achieving both water and energy security is exacerbated by a lack of institutional policy frameworks that integrate both concepts. However, the upcoming UN Rio+20 Sustainable Development Conference could provide an opportunity to change that.

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

Prior to the much anticipated Rio + 20 Conference of sustainable development; about 300 participants were invited to the River Basin Management conference in Thailand. Agreed upon among other key areas of discussion, was that water uses must meet the food, energy and water needs of the population and that a nexus approach is needed.

National science academies of 15 countries issued joint statements today calling on world leaders about to meet at the upcoming G8 Summit and other international gatherings this year to give greater consideration to the vital role science and technology could play in addressing some of the planet’s most pressing challenges.

Just before the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, some of the industrial nations, and specifically the United States, were lambasted for their obscenely high consumption of the world’s finite resources, including food, water and energy.

An international conference convened by the Mekong River Commission has concluded that the water, food and energy sectors need to talk to each other more.

Systems thinking comes of age as KPMG says environmental, social and economic problems cannot be solved separately. The megaforces that KPMG highlights represent all the usual suspects, from climate change, unpredictable energy supplies and water scarcity to urbanisation, deforestation and food security.

The ‘nexus’ has become a popular buzz word to describe the complex linkages among water, energy and food security – sectors that have traditionally remained fairly separate. Talk of the water-energy-food nexus was a hot topic at last month’s Planet Under Pressure conference; it is also the focus of a significant German government-organised input to the UN Rio+20 Summit. What has brought nexus thinking to the fore, and what does this nexus look like? How does it relate to climate compatible development?

Ambassador/ Permanent Representative of Nepal to the United Nations, Gyan Chandra Acharya has emphasized the need to take up the issue of mountains in a holistic manner from the perspectives of the people living there, ecosystem of the mountains, their impacts on all who are dependent upon or related to the mountain activities and as part of the global ecosystems.

Mit ihrem Antrag fordern die Abgeordneten die Bundesregierung unter anderem dazu auf, beim Rio+20-Prozess dafür einzutreten, wirksame Maßnahmen gegen Wasserknappheit zu vereinbaren – „unter Berücksichtigung des Nexus von Ernährungssicherheit, Wasser und Energie“.

Lessons from the Millennium Villages Project can lead the way forward. Based in the poorest and most challenging environments in sub-Saharan Africa, the 14 Millennium Villages have increased food production and crop diversification, while at the same time increasing household income – by transforming subsistence farming to commercialized agriculture.

Africa’s third longest river, the Niger, is a source of water, food and energy for nine West African countries. But frequent droughts induced by a changing climate, and exacerbated by rapidly growing demand, pose a threat to water availability and livelihoods. However, countries and communities can overcome the problem of how to share water resources if they adopt what scientists call “the nexus approach”, a key agenda item at the week-long Water Forum in Marseilles, France.

An environmental report issued by an agency of the United Nations last month has some critics sounding the alarm, saying it is a clarion call for “global governance” over how the Earth is managed.

Issued every three years since 2003 at the triennial World Water Forum, the UN World Water Development Report offers an overview of the state of the world’s freshwater resources and aims to provide decision makers with the tools to make sustainable use of water a reality.

The upcoming Rio+20 conference has to be the moment in human history when the nations of the world come together to find ways to ensure the very survival of humanity, many science and environmental experts believe.

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.