Bonn2011 Nexus Conference // Increased Collaboration Needed Across Water, Energy, Food Sectors

"As an added challenge, water, energy and food are intrinsically inter-related: a sustainable solution for one almost always has an impact on the others. Producing more food or energy, for example, requires more water — to irrigate crops, cool power plants, refine crude oil or cultivate biofuels. New water options such as desalination require more energy," he said in an article written for the Guardian newspaper. "That's why we need increased collaboration across sectors and geographies," he added. The German government echoed these sentiments as it prepares to host a major international conference on "The Water, Energy and Food Security Nexus — Solutions for the Green Economy," in Bonn on November 16-18. "It is increasingly clear: There is no place in an interlinked world for isolated solutions aimed at just one sector. They can have fatal consequences in other sectors," the conference organizers, Germany's Federal Ministries for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety and for Economic Cooperation and Development, said in a news release. "On the other hand, these interconnections can themselves offer new opportunities — above all for more efficient ways of using limited resources. But to seize opportunities we need to know more about relationships and causalities. Political and economic decision-makers must know how their decisions will impact on other sectors. "Sustainable solutions are only possible if we look carefully at the linkages — at the 'nexus' — between water, energy, food security and the role of climate change. Only a fresh look at the linkages, based on a networked perspective, will lead to coherent actions that take account of all the ramifications," they added. The Bonn 2011 Conference will provide a crucial boost to this new way of thinking, while providing the "catalyst for turning networked thinking into coherent action worldwide." It will focus on three areas of sustainable action; the social dimension, which focuses on improving access to water, food and energy services; the economic dimension that looks at achieving more with less; and the ecological dimension that will maintain healthy ecosystems. The conference also has three main objectives: to develop overarching concepts for water, food and energy security, to integrate to nexus approach into the Rio+20 process and green economy strategies, and to launch coherent and concrete action "that can sustainable resolve the conflicts and objectives arising from greater water and energy use and our growing food needs." David Duncan, OOSKAnews {david@ooskanews.com}