Editor’s choice
Water and energy are strongly interlinked, with their interrelation exerting profound implications on several critical global goals, including poverty reduction, sustainable agriculture, and climate change mitigation and adaptation. Access to clean water and reliable energy is essential for poverty reduction, as it enables economic activities, improves living standards, and enhances health outcomes, especially in impoverished communities. Sustainable agriculture, reliant on adequate water resources and energy inputs, plays a pivotal role in achieving food security and rural development. Water is indispensable for irrigation, livestock watering, and food processing, while energy powers agricultural machinery, processing facilities, and transportation networks. However, the inappropriate management of water resources and the reliance on fossil fuels for energy production contribute to environmental degradation and exacerbate climate change, posing significant challenges to sustainable development. Thus, addressing the water-energy nexus is paramount for achieving climate change goals, as it involves transitioning to renewable energy sources, improving energy efficiency, and implementing water-saving technologies. Integrated approaches to water and energy management are essential for achieving synergies across these interconnected goals, fostering resilience, and ensuring equitable access to resources for present and future generations.
The 2024 High-level Political Forum offers a unique platform to assess the potential for this transformative pathway on water (SDG6) and energy (SDG7) and for scaled-up actions supporting poverty eradication (SDG1), sustainable agriculture (SDG2) and climate change mitigation and adaptation (SDG13). This capacity development side event of the 2024 HLPF, organized by UN DESA in cooperation with members of the Global Sustainable Water and Energy Solutions Network, will bring together stakeholders to discuss and showcase existing initiatives and disseminate information on integrated water and energy solutions
| Moderator: Sara Castro de Hallgren, Sustainable Development Officer, UNOSD |
| Raul Alfaro Pelico, Director, Knowledge, Policy and Finance Center, IRENA
Vijay Modi, Professor, Columbia University Andrea Bolaños, Sustainability Director-ASAZGUA, UNALA David Villareal, Climate Change and Alliances Lead, Iberdrola, Spain Laura Paterson, Representative and Coordinator to the UN and Other International Organizations in North America, WMO David Peral, ESG Analyst, Canal de Isabel II, Comunidad de Madrid, Spain Gustavo Paredes, ICC, Guatemala Miquel Muñoz, Senior Scientist, SEI |
| Discussion and Questions |
Collection / Dive into SEI's research and on-the-ground work to support lasting renewable energy projects across the globe.
Journal article / With support, agrivoltaic technology could benefit East African agricultural systems and address the region's interrelated climate, energy and food challenges.
Event on 09 September – 13 July in Kuala Lumpur / Jenniffer Pedraza will present her work developing emissions scenarios in Latin America and the Caribbean at this global atmospheric chemistry conference.
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