Recap of the Second Day

Josefina Maestu

United Nations Office to Support the International

Decade for Action: “Water for Life” 2005-2015, 

UN-Water Decade Programme on Advocacy and Communication)

The issues of the 1st day

The business case for integrated energy-water planning and investment

From research and technology?

From companies?

Government´s responses?

Industry partnerships to ensure water and energy efficiency and

sustainability

Opportunities in industries as a unit?

Lessons learnt from PPPs?

• Policy design and investments planning needs continuous improvement and adaptation not one for all decisions.

• Future challenges and options are unpredictable but will depend on present decisions.

• There is not a non-cooperative way to manage cross vulnerability between W&E.

• Governments need technological and business partners.• There are not obvious technical solutions but complex trade-offs

between policy options and many alternative courses of action.• There is the need to build up a shared vision of the challenges ahead as

well as to develop country capacity to take complex decisions.

Cooperation (through partnerships) is not optional

• Water efficiency indicators in power generation are not precise nor very informative for making energy mix choices.

• Water consumption and withdrawal really depends on the type of cooling system.

• Nothing can be said a-priori about the best cooling system. Location, water abundance and reliability, incentives and institutional set-ups are more relevant than energy technology itself.

• In a given location efficiency of the power generation itself (and residual heat) is the key for improvement.

• Technology choices are open. Water use is really a matter of business and policy choices (from water intensive through dry cooling and hybrid systems in between) –E.g. Abengoa solutions of affordable energy for developing and arid countries.

Innovations are needed to address “lock-in” issues and prevent rebound effects.

Complex technology choices?: Not that complex when we focus on the right choices

• BP Partnership in Australia

Kwinana Water Minimisation Project. Local knowledge is essential.• Coal’s water use

Cases from China, India and South Africa: Mismatch between coal & water resources.

The energy choice is the single largest determining factor.

Water Scarcity is a driver for energy innovation

• Radical changes in social adaptation are required once all traditional alternatives to develop water resources have been exhausted.

• Sooner or later the future will belong to alternative water sources (brackish, wastewater, sea, etc.)

• Policy and technological options need to set long-term targets for both the water and the energy mixes.

• Energy costs might be a driver for innovation in the water sector (natural pressurised delivery of water for irrigation in Spain) and water costs might be a driver of innovation in the energy sector (USA and South Africa).

• Once water become scarce pushing up traditional options for energy development will only exacerbate the problem.

However.. water stressed areas (and others) need to cope with institutional and technology/energy options

lock-ins

Back to Governance: The critical role of water governing institutions- and the issue of viability!

Well defined and properly enforced water property rights is a pre-condition to make sustainable choices in the energy sector.• If fracking companies have the right incentives they will do their best to

minimize water consumption so that they can find the way to expand in water stress areas without threatening sustainability (See US experience).

• Water scarcity signals might push Irrigated biofuels back as a viable energy source (US).

• When properly regulated water might become one of the main objectives in energy research (otherwise it might not)

• Water constraints make decisions in the energy sector move forward from single (cost reductions) to multiple objectives (sustainability).

Partnerships: a marathon rather than a sprint

• Dialogue is a long term task (see US experience)• Successful dialogue is a gradual learning a self reinforcing process

(don’t be too ambitious in the first steps).• Partnerships progress through building a shared vision among

different partners.• But self interest need to be recognized as a driver of action.• Incentives for innovation depend on the ability of the private sector to

push their priorities up in the political agenda (e.g. USA private business investments in research and development).

• Stable regulatory frameworks drive innovation.

Don´t try to make too much too soon.Capitalize the attractiveness of the first easy steps.

• Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol

The multistakeholder partnership created the legitimacy of the method, accepted by all.

What role for the public incentives in promoting new partnerships and

innovation?• Partnerships cannot be driven by the promise of getting financial

support from the government (EIP Water).

• The government role is better defined by providing incentives to align business interest (profitability, water and energy security, etc.) with collective objectives (sustainability, water and energy access, etc.).

• Incentives are making financially atractive/viable what is already a good thing for the environment (ie: Carslberg case)

The Nexus is more than a technical issue of energy and water

efficiency

• Biophysical nexus• Utilitarian nexus• Institutional nexus

The need to move beyond efficiency and address issues of resource restoration and regeneration, and sustainable consumption.

Decoupling of socio-economic development from resource use and environmental impacts, and sustainable resource management in relevant political processes.

BENEFITS OF GREEN INDUSTRY

EconomicMore Innovation and Growth;

Increased Resilience…

SocialMore Employment, Rising

Incomes and Empowerment…

EnvironmentalMore Efficient Resource Use;

Less Waste and Pollution…

Increase resource productivity

Bring down production costs Foster technology

development and innovation Improve competitiveness Open up new markets Develop new businesses

Create new jobs and make existing jobs more secure

Reduce poverty Develop new skills and

capacity Improve occupational health

and safety conditions Safeguard health and safety

of communities Lower risks to consumers

Reduce environmental pollution

Counteract resource depletion

Prevent degradation of ecosystems

Mitigate climate change Combat water scarcity

Going further than water and energy efficiency ….Reminding us of the many objectives of partnerships

Scaling up – some rules of the gameMaking Smart Decisions Transferable:

some keys towards good practice:

Some lessons from TEST

• Link sustainability contributions to financial gains and core business strategy.

• Benchmarking company performance with ratios/technology in the global market.

• Training, Monitoring, Follow up & Top management engagement • Develop multidisciplinary skills and Technical sectoral expertise • Follow a flexible approach depending on company size and baseline,

applicable at existing sites and for start-ups• Develop enabling financial incentives.

The key role of information- still many information gaps....

• There still is room for improvement in water accounting and energy accounting systems (before the ambition of an integrated accounting system become a viable target)

• The best integrated models available still have to overcome with important drawbacks (in energy general equilibrium models water is an emission rather than a carrier, models are sensitive to water prices but not to water shortages, limited ability to deal with uncertainty, dynamic effects, technology choices, etc…).

• Limited consideration of ecosystems and ecosystems services.• Prospective scenarios are still based on BAU and ad-hoc assumptions on the

drivers and the options available to reconcile future demands and supplies. • The availability of data, clear concepts and information is key to determine

which solution is most appropriate – e.g. water consumption vs withdrawal.

Overview of the dayWednesday, January 15, 2014

• 09:30-13.00 Local partnerships on W&E- 09:30-11:00 Panel 1. Partnerships between W&E utilities: Aquafed-11:30–13:00 Panel 2. Partnerships of local and subnational authorities with other actors: ICLEI

• 14:15-14:45 Side Event 3. World Water Week 2014: SIWI• 14:45-18:00 Policy research and innovation partnerships for W&E

- 14:45-16:15 Panel 1. Partnerships on policy research on W&E: UNU- 16:30-18:00 Panel 2. Innovation partnerships on W&E: WWAP

• 18:00-18:30 Lessons learnt and roadmap to World Water Day• 18:30-19:30 Side Event 4. Panel discussion on managing the nexus on

W&E in Spain: Ebro river basin authority and The World Council of Civil Engineers