The aim of the water consultations is to facilitate discussions from a broad range of stakeholders to review progress on the MDGs, kick-start consensus building around key future challenges in water and the need to address water in the post-2015 development agenda. The consultations will cover three thematic sub-consultations “Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)”, “Water Resources Management” and “Wastewater Management and Water Quality”.

Read more about the session here:

• EUWI’s website
• AMCOW’s website

The water consultation is part of the UN-system led “global dialogue” comprising of 50-100 Country Consultations and eleven global Thematic Consultations, including one on water. The water consultation is mainly taking place as an online discussion using different social media. The purpose is to bring voices from a broad range of stakeholders to build consensus around key future challenges related to water and the need for a new global water goal in the post-2015 development agenda.

The thematic consultation on water is divided in three sub-consultations:

• Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH)
• Water resources
• Wastewater management and water quality

On January 14, all sub-consultations started their online activity inviting everyone to share their insights and opinions on different topics. Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) will lead and moderate the first week under the Water Resources Management theme, which opens with a focus on water and energy.

Water for Energy – Energy for Water

Water and energy linkages have rapidly risen to the forefront of attention among urgent themes related to development challenges in the international community. The importance of water as a key pillar to sustain human well-being, secure livelihood opportunities and provide bases for diverse productive uses has long been recognized. In a similar manner, the need for energy to raise people out of poverty and fuel growing economies, whilst sustaining mature ones, is a well-established fact. The notion about how these resources are linked and dependent on each other has for a long time gone unnoticed by the broader global community, but not any more. The fact that energy needs water in its production and that water needs energy in order to be extracted, treated and moved is quickly gathering awareness as the demand for diminishing water resources increases.

Simultaneously the demand for energy is projected to grow massively over the next 20 years. The challenges and opportunities tied to this development are great and have been recognised in different ways by major development institutions. The World Economic Forum ranks water supply challenges at number three on their Global Risk Ranking for the coming years. In the UN report titled “Secretary-General’s Initial Input to the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals” (2012), the entire nexus of water, energy and food security is ranked as separate topics on the top three positions for priority areas among member states.

You can read our full paper about water and energy at www.worldwewant2015.org/water/waterresources where you can contribute to the discussion and post your own comments. You can also participate through social media via Twitter using the hashtag #waterpost2015 or visit the Facebook page WaterPost2015.

SIWI encourages everyone to take the opportunity to participate in the consultation on water and energy during January 14-20, 2013, and be part of creating the world we want.

The outcome from the different discussions will be summarised into policy recommendations in a final report that will be transmitted to the High-level Panel on Post-2015 appointed by the UN Secretary General at the end of March.

SIWI’s Torgny Holmgren on Water Resources Management

“After a preloged negotiation between the 16 and 18 june, the Brazilian government released the Rio + 20 outcome on Tuesday morning and the document was accepted by all parties in a plenary meeting some hours later.

From a water perspective one may do the following observations; It is good that water and sanitation is clearly visible, as the second thematic section in chapter 5 of the outcome document.

It is important that , despite very hard resistance from some countries, there is a paragraph on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation, even if the languish is diluted and a text got included stating that this right shall be realised “with full respect for national sovereignity” to accommodate some countries that otherwise would not have let the text pass

It is excellent that there are clear references to “the need to adopt measures to  significantly reduce water pollution and increase water quality, significantly improve waste water treatment and water efficiency and reduce water losses ” and to ” significantly improve the integrated water resource management AT ALL LEVELS”. The latter is especially important as the paragraph on transboundary water got deleted, where the host country gave it a final shot down by even not including it in the text Brazil presented on Saturday afternoon after taking over the leadership of the negotiations.

Bedsides the loss of the transboundary paragraph, and the weakening of the human rights paragraph another weakness is that there are no words of commitment throughout the text. Also that “nexus sentence” on the linkages between water, food, energy, health, biodiversity and climate, that the EU wanted to have in the chapeau of chapter 5, was not included.

Finally, it is important that the document envisions a process on Sustainable Development Goals, even  thought it is a bit unclear how this process will be carried forward and the specific reference to water got lost as the references to thematic issues in the SDG section was deleted”.

The final outcome document will be issued on June 22.

Excerpt from the text (20 June) where water is mentioned:

CHAPTER 5, Framework for action and follow-up
A. Thematic areas and cross-sectoral issues

Food security and nutrition and sustainable agriculture

109. We recognize that a significant portion of the world’s poor live in rural areas, and that rural communities play an important role in the economic development of many countries. We emphasize the need to revitalize the agricultural and rural development sectors, notably in developing countries, in an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable manner. We recognize the importance to take the necessary actions to better address the needs of rural communities through, inter alia, enhancing access by agricultural producers, in particular small producers, women, indigenous peoples and people living in vulnerable situations, to credit and other financial services, markets, secure land tenure, health care and social services, education and training, knowledge, and appropriate and affordable technologies, including for efficient irrigation, reuse of treated waste water, water harvesting and storage. We reiterate the importance of empowering rural women as critical agents for enhancing agricultural and rural development and food security and nutrition. We also recognize the importance of traditional sustainable agricultural practices, including traditional seed supply systems, including for many indigenous peoples and local communities.

(…)

111. We reaffirm the necessity to promote, enhance and support more sustainable agriculture, including crops, livestock, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture, that improves food security, eradicates hunger, and is economically viable, while conserving land, water, plant and animal genetic resources, biodiversity and ecosystems, and enhancing resilience to climate change and natural disasters. We also recognize the need to maintain natural ecological processes that support food production systems.

112. We stress the need to enhance sustainable livestock production systems, including through improving pasture land and irrigation schemes in line with national policies, legislation, rules and regulations, enhanced sustainable water management systems, and efforts to eradicate and prevent the spread of animal diseases, recognizing that the livelihoods of farmers including pastoralists and the health of livestock are intertwined.

(…)

Water and sanitation

119. We recognize that water is at the core of sustainable development as it is closely linked to a number of key global challenges. We therefore reiterate the importance of integrating water in sustainable development and underline the critical importance of water and sanitation within the three dimensions of sustainable development.

120. We reaffirm the commitments made in the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation and Millennium Declaration regarding halving by 2015 the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation and the development of integrated water resource management and water efficiency plans, ensuring sustainable water use. We commit to the progressive realization of access to safe and affordable drinking water and basic sanitation for all, as necessary for poverty eradication and to protect human health, and to significantly improve the implementation of integrated water resource management at all levels as appropriate. In this regard, we reiterate these commitments in particular for developing countries through the mobilization of resources from all sources, capacity building and technology transfer.

121. We reaffirm our commitments regarding the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation, to be progressively realized for our populations with full respect for national sovereignty. We also highlight our commitment to the 2005-2015 International Decade for Action “Water for Life.”

122. We recognize the key role that ecosystems play in maintaining water quantity and quality and support actions within the respective national boundaries to protect and sustainably manage these ecosystems.

123.  We underline the need to adopt measures to address floods, droughts, and water scarcity, addressing the balance between water supply and demand including where appropriate non-conventional water resources, and to mobilize financial resources and investment in infrastructure for water and sanitation services, in accordance with national priorities.

124. We stress the need to adopt measures to significantly reduce water pollution and increase water quality, significantly improve wastewater treatment, and water efficiency and reduce water losses. In order to achieve this end we stress the need for international assistance and cooperation.

Contact
Ms. Karin Lexén
Email: karin.lexen@siwi.org
Phone:  +46 8522 139 93