Nexus Regional Dialogue in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)
#projectDetails
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#projectOrganisation:
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ)
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#projectPartners:
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)
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#projectImplementationPeriod:
July 2020 – June 2023
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#projectFunding:
German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), European Union (EU)
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#projectOrganisation:
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ)
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#projectPartners:
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)
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#projectImplementationPeriod:
July 2020 – June 2023
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#projectFunding:
German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), European Union (EU)
Key Publications
Publicación // Guía metodológica: diseño de acciones con enfoque del Nexo entre agua, energía y alimentación para países de América Latina y el Caribe
By Lisbeth Naranjo and Bárbara A. Willaarts. Esta Guía Metodológica presenta la aplicación práctica del enfoque del “Nexo entre Agua, Energía y Alimentación”.
Nexus Publicación // Manual de Capacitación Equipo Móvil de Bombeo Solar
Desarrollar y fortalecer capacidades de asesoramiento técnico y formulación de proyectos de agua, energía solar y producción de alimentos, en personal técnico del sector público y privado, así como en familias campesinas mediante su formación práctica utilizando un Equipo Móvil de Bombeo Solar demostrativo.
Programa Diálogos Regionales del Nexo // Alineamiento de las Políticas Hídricas con las Nacionales y de Desarrollo a través de la Perspectiva Nexo en el Perú
Perú, desde perspectiva Nexo, pretende contribuir con lograr una visión integradora entre el agua, la energía y la agricultura con fines alimentarios, cuya orientación facilite el trabajo a los tres niveles de gobierno (nacional, regional y local) en la gestión de estos importantes recursos para beneficio de la población.
Agua, Producción de Alimentos y Energía // La Experiencia del Nexo en Chile
Por Humberto Peña. El presente estudio analiza este Nexo en el caso de Chile.
Latin America // El Nexo entre el agua, la energía y la alimentación en América Latina y el Caribe: planificación, marco normativo e identificación de interconexiones prioritarias
Por Antonio Embid y Liber Martín/Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe. Este documento analiza el Nexo entre agua, energía y alimentación en América Latina y el Caribe centrando su atención en el estado actual de la cuestión, la planificación para su implementación, la articulación del marco normativo y la identificación de interconexiones prioritarias para la región.
Lineamientos de Políticas Públicas // Un Mejor Manejo de las Interrelaciones del Nexo entre el Agua, la Energía y la Alimentación
Por Antonio Embid y Liber Martín. Este estudio tiene como principal objeto la formulación de lineamientos de política pública para mejorar el manejo de las interrelaciones del Nexo entre el agua, la energía y la alimentación en América Latina y el Caribe.
Recent News
Regional Context
Subtitle
50 million people currently do not have adequate access to food, despite playing a key role in meeting the growing international food demand. LAC contains over 41% of the global freshwater resources, however 36 million inhabitants do not have access to an improved water source, as inequality in water accessibility and availability remains a problem. The region strongly depends on hydropower for energy production, which is responsible for 65% of the electricity generated. This however raises conflicts with other water users, such as the mining and agricultural sector. In order to overcome resource conflicts in LAC, it is necessary to understand the interconnections -synergies, conflicts and compensations- between water, energy and food.
Latin America and the Caribbean is home to 33 diverse countries endowed with abundant reserves of water, agriculture, energy and minerals. There are regional differences and major challenges, including increasing demands on natural resources, weak governance capacity, significant inequalities and growing urbanisation. Political instability, extreme weather events, increasing droughts and changes in precipitation patterns highlight the need for intersectoral solutions. Ensuring the water, energy and food security of 646 million people and reaching the ambitious 2030 Sustainable Development Goals will require balancing competing demands on resources while also protecting vulnerable ecosystems.
The Nexus Regional Dialogues Programme works in close cooperation with several major stakeholders in the region such as the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL) to raise Nexus issues up to high-level regional policy discourses, to support the identification of synergies within the WEF Nexus, as well as to support the recommendation of policies for strengthening the management of natural resources.
Why are WEF Nexus Solutions Needed?
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72%
The agriculture sector currently accounts for 72% of water withdrawls
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45%
Around 45% of electricity production in Latin America and the Caribbean comes from hydropower
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70%
Agriculture causes 70% of deforestation, threatening the region's water security, ecosystems, and biodiversity
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80%
80% of the population in LAC lives in urban areas, one of the highest rates globally
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By 2050
Urbanization is predicted to rise to 90% by 2050
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17%
17% of greenhouse gas emissions in LAC are a result of agriculture
Water and Agriculture
Latin America’s abundance of arable land and water supports vast agricultural production. Agriculture is the largest user of water in the region, primarily through rainfall (green water): only 13% of arable land and permanent crops is irrigated. This dependence on rain-fed agriculture, while less water and energy intensive than irrigated systems, has trade-offs in terms of lower productivity and greater vulnerability to drought.
Water and Energy
Energy and Agriculture
Achievements
Institutionalizing the WEF Nexus approach into policy-making
The Regional Nexus Dialogue in Latin American and the Caribbean was implemented byEconomic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in Phase I of the project, between 2016 to 2019.
The initial goal of the NRD in LAC was to foster the WEF Nexus approach in the region, promote inter-sectoral communication and collaboration, as well as integrated resource management. It worked to strengthen the high-level political discourse in applying the WEF Nexus approach in decision-making and policy development.
In its first phase the Nexus Dialogue Project in LAC achieved these goals through the following outcomes:
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Virtual Forums
Coordination of 6 virtual forums and participation in 5 regional events
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Methodological Guideline
A methodological guideline for adopting a WEF Nexus approach in LAC was developed, through publications and training videos
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Lessons learnt
A comparative analysis of Nexus case studies was performed, and lessons learnt were developed
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Central America
Irrigation with solar energy was introduced in several Central American countries, including El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico
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Biodiversity studies
Nature based solutions and NEXUS impacts were explored in LAC, including impacts of dams in rivers
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Country-specific achievements
Chile: IWRM, Energy policy, Irrigation policy, and Nature based solutions
Bolivia: irrigation plans, IWRM and multipurpose dams
Ecuador: bioenergy and multipurpose dams
Key Activities
Kicking the Nexus approach into high gear
Building on the successes of the first phase, Phase II of the Nexus Dialogue in LAC will focus on the practical application of the Nexus approach.
The main objectives will include:
- Demonstration projects showcasing Nexus benefits and value-added.
- Providing technical assistance at the national level to ensure the viability of Nexus adoption at an institutional level.
- Developing an online training on Nexus in LAC with supporting webinars.
- Organising events including online sub-regional workshops, a high-level Regional Policy Dialogue and donor workshop meetings.
- Using the Methodological Guideline, developed in Phase I, for adopting the Nexus approach in LAC to strengthen national and regional stakeholders’ policy development capacities.
