Mar 21, 2014

Happy World Water Day 2014

What will you do to raise the profile of water issues today?

International World Water Day is held every year on 22 March to focus global attention on the importance of water and advocating for the sustainable management of our water resources. Each year, a specific aspect of water is highlighted. In 2014 the theme is Water and Energy.

As World Water Day (WWD) falls on a Saturday this year, the major events of WWD will be hosted  in Tokyo on Friday 21st March linking to dozens of other national and international events worldwide.

SIWI’s Executive Director, Torgny Holmgren will be taking part in the main proceedings and will announce the 2014 Stockholm Water Prize Laureate at the same time as it is announced in Stockholm.  You can watch the live stream of Torgny’s address at 16:45-17:00 Japan Standard Time.

SIWI is also celebrating World Water Day by hosting a seminar on Energy and Water here in Stockholm. You can watch the live stream from 9am CET here (In Swedish).

The World Water Day celebrations will include the launch ceremony for the 2014 edition of the United Nations World Water Development Report (WWDR), titled ‘Water and Energy’. Providing a detailed analysis of the interlinkages between water and energy in the context of sustainable development, the WWDR 2014 is the result of the joint efforts of the UN agencies and entities which make up UN-Water, working in partnership with governments, international organizations, non-governmental organisations, and other stakeholders.

World Water Week 2014 – Energy and Water

When addressing the “energy and water” 2014 World Water Week in Stockholm theme, we shall take an overall “systems view” of how we develop and manage energy and water for the good of society and ecosystems – at local, national, regional and global levels – and avoid unintended consequences of narrow sectoral approaches. The “water, energy and food security nexus”, underpinning the green growth approach, will be central to the event agenda. The energy and water theme will be addressed from two overall perspectives: the societal opportunities and challenges, and the cross-cutting issues.

Thematic scope

Programme

Swedish Water House – Energy Cluster Group

SIWI’s Swedish Water House Cluster Group on Water and Energy Linkages gathers different actors in Sweden and provides an enabling environment where different perspectives and views can be exchanged. The aim is to advance the knowledge of water and energy linkages and to use this knowledge in different settings to develop systems for providing clean water and energy services sustainably.

UN Water Overarching Energy-Water messages

  • Water requires energy and energy requires water
  • Supplies are limited and demand is increasing
  • Saving energy is saving water: saving water is saving energy
  • The “bottom billion” urgently need access to both water and sanitation services, and electricity
  • Improving water and energy efficiency in all sectors is imperative as are coordinated, coherent and concerted policies

Other resources