Water-Energy-Food Nexus: A conceptual framework for strengthening cross-sector interactionsPaul T. Yillia (Dr. techn.)Programme Manager (Water-Energy Nexus)UN Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All)Austria

1 Goal: Achieving Sustainable Energy for All by 20303 Objectives: Access, Efficiency, Renewables

Sustainable Energy for All by 2030

High-impact opportunity initiatives

to mobilise multi-stakeholder

partnerships, commitments and

investment linked to key Action Areas

Global Action Agenda, with a set of Action Areas, will facilitate dialogues and guide action towards SE4ALL goal globally

BusinessesEnergy companiesFinancial playersAll companies

GovernmentsNational governmentsPublic institutionsCities and municipalitiesMultilateral organizationsBilateral development partners

Civil societyOrganizationAcademic institutionsIndividuals Monitoring and Progress Tracking

to recognize achievements, share lessons and ensure accountability

Country Action to accelerate progress toward nationally-

tailored sustainable energy for all

objectives, based on country’s own action

plans and programmes

All parties must act… …and work together to realize a world with Sustainable Energy for All

Energy efficiency

Renewable energy

Energy access

One Goal: Achieving Sustainable Energy for All by 2030

SE4All.orgSE4All.orgCountry Action

AfDB

EBRD

AsDB

IDB

EE Hubs

Cap. Buil-ding

IRENA

Knowledge (WB)

Main Regional and Thematic Hubs

Regional and Thematic Hubs

Host Institutions and Collaborators

SE4All Africa Hub African Development Bank in collaboration with the African Union, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development and UNDP

SE4All Latin America and Caribbean Hub

Inter-American Development Bank in collaboration with the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean and UNDP

SE4All Asia-Pacific Hub Asian Development Bank in collaboration with the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific and UNDP

SE4All Europe-Central Asia-Mediterranean Hub

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)

SE4All Energy Efficiency Hub

Copenhagen Centre on Energy Efficiency, a joint activity of the Danish Government, UNEP and the Technical University of Denmark

SE4All Energy Efficiency Facilitating Hub

Energy Conservation Center, Japan

SE4All Renewable Energy Hub

International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)

SE4All Knowledge Hub The World Bank, for tracking, reporting and data management

SE4All Capacity Building Hub

The Energy and Resources Institute

SE4All Bottom-of-the-Pyramid Hub

UNDP

Nexus dimensions go beyond water, energy and food……

Global challenges are interlinked…….

Action Agendas and Investment Prospectuses

• AAs translate the SE4All objectives (SDG7 targets) into the national context and function as country-level umbrella frameworks for energy sector development.

• IPs describe priority actions, financing needs and energy investment opportunities. These nationally owned documents provide a credible framework for mobilizing investments.

67 Rapid Assessments/Gap Analyses finalized

36 Action Agendas under development

or finalized

25 Investment Prospectuses

under development or

finalized

Baseline Scenario

Alternative Scenario

Alternative Scenario

Alternative Scenario

Strategic action areas Baseline scenario Alternative scenario

Policy LandscapeFragmented: policy development is and still very much sector-driven

Cohesive: policy coherence & governance across sectors and scales

Sector InstitutionsIndependent sector institutions, with strong differences in objectives & implementation procedures

Independent sector institutions with inter-sector engagement & management approaches

Collaboration among institutions

Poor collaboration among institutions; lack a common framework for planning and measuring progress

Coordinated planning and management with a common framework for planning and measuring progress

Decision making process

Decisions are made without cross-sector consultation and coordination

Increased consultation and recognition of trade-offs and synergies across sectors

Independent policy objectives leads to incoherence/inconsistencies

“water-inconsistent” energy policies “energy-inconsistent” water policies “water-inconsistent” food policies “food-inconsistent” energy policies

1. Exploring win-win (synergistic) policies• Pursuing multiple policy objectives at the same time

Examples: increasing water and energy efficiency; lowering water consumption through conservation, reducing on water leakages in the distribution system, etc.

Approaches to enhancing policy coherence

Narmada Canal: 1MW of electricity enough to power 1000 homes a year

2. Minimizing trade-offs to avoiding conflicts• Pursuing policy objectives that do not undermine others

Examples: requiring solar hot water systems on new building (Israel); use of waste heat from thermoelectric power plants to desalinate sea water or creating fish passes at dam sites that would usually obstruct fish migration.

Approaches to enhancing policy coherence

3. Managing trade-offs• Minimizing negative impact of one policy on other policies

Example: recycling effluent from bio-refineries to reduce negative impact on freshwater ecosystems; remove environmentally harmful subsidies like energy subsidies the exacerbate groundwater pumping

Approaches to enhancing policy coherence

 NEXUS OPPORTUNITIES:DRINKING WATER & WASTEWATER UTILITIES

Utilities are typically energy intensive; largest energy consumers of municipal governments, 30-40 percent of the total energy consumed;

Energy costs can reach 60% of total operating costs; expected to increase by 20% in the next 15 years;

An energy efficiency audit can identify the greatest energy-consuming devices and/or operations for efficiency gains

……also to mitigate GHG emissions and critical air pollutants such as CH4 & CO2

Updating technologies with more energy efficient systems is important to reduce costs

Utilities can recover funds for expanding services to unserved or poorly served areas

Multiple benefits for

water utilities

Investments on energy efficiency and effective operations can produce economic, environmental, and other benefits…….

Develop harmonized, robust, practical and cost-effective approaches for assessing nexus challenges and trade-offs;

Better integrate the nexus perspective in policies and projects at country level;

Document and disseminate knowledge about nexus solutions and best practices;

Engage international organizations and civil society stakeholders to facilitate the deployment of nexus knowledge, tools/approaches and solutions.

The overall goal of the nexus HIO is to contribute to the achievement of SE4ALL objectives by improving the awareness and knowledge about the nexus and promoting the implementation of nexus solutions

SE4All HIO on water-energy-food nexus