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International Cooperation
International cooperation is essential to ensure support and progress in the development of coordinated global efforts on sustainable water and energy solutions and to create awareness and disseminate knowledge on the advantages of such integrated approach. Large-scale water and energy projects represent examples at the regional level that can be planned to serve customers in neighboring countries. Interconnections of power grids, for instance, can help to balance structural differences or temporary fluctuations in national and local power generation and demand and supply and enable participants to use the available energy resources in the most sustainable and climate friendly manner. Also at a regional level, concerned governments can and have formed regional inter-governmental bodies with a view to coordinate river basin-related development efforts. These inter-governmental bodies are well placed to conduct comprehensive development studies and establish forward looking multi-sectoral models, including on the water-energy nexus, to facilitate collaborative planning and decision-making processes and manage potentially competing uses of available water resources.
International cooperation is necessary to effectively implement an integrated and efficient approach to water and energy that will support a resilient recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. More coordinated multi-stakeholder and multilateral efforts are needed to accelerate progress towards practical integrated water and energy solutions. As the COVID-19 continues to impact the world, these approaches can effectively contribute to a resilient recovery and strengthen essential health services. Stimulus packages for a better recovery need to consider integrated water and energy innovative solutions that could provide a transformative path resulting in the saving of many lives and on ensuring that no one is left behind.
The international community of experts both on water and on energy has recognized the importance of integrated approaches to the water and energy nexus, as evidenced by the large number of research activities and studies published in the last decade. Important international organizations specialized in the issues of water and energy which have conducted relevant activities and are involved in current efforts include: UNESCO/World Water Assessment Programme, the International Energy Agency, the World Bank, the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the World Resources Institute (WRI), the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), among others. Other major research efforts that could be classified at the international level are being conducted by academia with research activities of interest to nations all over the world.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization /World Water Assessment Programme
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the World Water Assessment Programme dedicated the 2014 edition of the UN World Water Development Report to a comprehensive study on Water and Energy. The report assesses energy and water in their inter- linkages and data related issues. It includes thematic sections addressing infrastructure, industry, cities, agriculture and ecosystems. It also includes regional analysis and identified responses. The second part of the report presents case studies from five regions. A follow-up UN World Water Development Report, analyzing recent trends, was published in 2019.
For more information on relevant UNESCO publications and work, please see the following references:
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization: United Nations World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP), Volume 1 Water and Energy, Volume 2 Facing the Challenges, [The United Nations World Water Development Report], Paris (2014)
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization: United Nations World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP), The United Nations World Water Development report: Leaving no one behind, Paris (2019)
International Energy Agency
The International Energy Agency (IEA) efforts before 2016 had focused on the impact of water availability on different processes of the energy sector and on the energy sector’s impact on water quality and quantity. The IEA published a report in 2016 entitled Water Energy Nexus as an excerpt of the World Energy Outlook (WEO). The report further assesses the nexus by providing a systematic global estimate of the amount of energy used to supply water to consumers. Future energy requirements in water systems such as desalination, wastewater treatment and water distribution are described within the context of two modelling scenarios of the IEA’s World Energy Outlook.
In 2018, the IEA published the Energy, Water and the Sustainable Development Goals, as an excerpt from the World Energy Outlook 2018. The report presents an analysis quantifying the water needs of the energy-related SDGs and the energy required to fulfill SDG 6 on water and the links and synergies between water and energy. The analysis is based on the WEO Sustainable Development Scenario that now includes the water dimension.
The IEA published a report in May 2020 summarizing the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on the global energy demand and CO2 emissions. The report found that there is a major shift towards low- carbon sources of electricity including wind, solar PV, hydropower and nuclear during the COVID-19 crisis. The situation shows the potential that energy efficiency and renewables are likely to uphold the clean energy transition that could create jobs, enhance economic competitiveness and improve the resilience of energy systems.
For more information on relevant IEA publications and work, please see the following references:
International Energy Agency: World Energy Outlook, November 2016
International Energy Agency: Water Energy Nexus, Excerpt from the World Energy Outlook, 2016
International Energy Agency: Energy, Water and Sustainable Development Goals, Excerpt from World Energy Outlook 2018, Paris, 2018
International Energy Agency: Market Report Series: Renewables 2018 - Analysis and forecast to 2023, 2018
International Energy Agency: TCP on Ocean Energy Systems, 2019
International Energy Agency: Global Energy Review 2020: the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on the global energy demand and CO2 emissions. Paris, 2020
International Energy Agency: Clean energy progress after the COVID-19 crisis will need reliable supplies of critical minerals, 2020
World Bank
The World Bank conducted an initiative entitled “Thirsty Energy” between 2014- 2018 in order to address challenges related to energy and water resource planning. The effort consisted of activities at the global and at country level and designed to raise awareness about the water-energy challenges, identify synergies and quantify trade-offs, coordinate decision making and pilot water-smart energy planning tools. The initiative also promoted dialogue among international organizations, governments and the private sector.
The World Bank also published a very relevant report in 2018 entitled Where the Sun meets Water: Floating Solar Market Report which describes how this emerging energy-water integrated system works and the potential market, benefits and opportunities in the future. The report mentions the successful implementation of this integrated system in some countries including Malaysia, Japan, and in Montalegre, Portugal where the first-ever hydropower- connected floating solar is already operating.
For more information on relevant World Bank publications and work, please see the following references:
World Bank: Thirsty Energy, Summary of the Initiative, 2014-2018
World Bank: Thirsty Energy Modelling the Water-Energy Nexus in China, 2018
World Bank: Resilient Water Supply and Sanitation Services: The Case of Japan, 2018
World Bank: Where Sun meets Water: Floating Solar Market Report, 2018
World Bank: Operation and Maintenance Strategies for Hydropower: Handbook for practioners and decisionmakers, 2020
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis
The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) is leading a major project on Integrated Solutions for Water, Energy and Land (ISWEL). Within this project, researchers from IIASA’s programmes on Water, Energy and Transitions to New Technologies have collaborated in the development of new pathways showing how the world can develop water and energy infrastructures consistent with the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goal 6 on water.
For more information on relevant IIASA publications and work, please see the following references:
International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA): Integrated Pathways for Meeting Climate Targets and Ensuring Access to Safe Water, 2019
The International Renewable Energy Agency
The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has analyzed how renewable energy technologies can address trade-offs between water, energy and food, bringing substantial benefits in all three key sectors. IRENA’s workstream on the nexus produced an in-depth overview report on renewable energy in the water, energy and food nexus in 2015, followed by more focused work on solar- pumping for irrigation in 2016. Additionally, IRENA has examined the potential for renewables-based desalination to address the need for sustainable water supply in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). IRENA has also studied the water-energy-nexus issue in short quantitative country analyses on the impact of renewables and efficient cooling technologies on water use in the national power sectors of China and India.
For more information on relevant IRENA publications and work, please see the following references:
International Renewable Energy Agency: Renewable Energy in the Water, Energy & Food Nexus, 2015
International Renewable Energy Agency: Solar Pumping for Irrigation: improving livelihoods and sustainability, 2016
International Renewable Energy Agency: Renewable Energy Market Analysis: The GCC Region, 2016
International Renewable Energy Agency: Water Use in India’s Power Generation: Impact of Renewables and Improved Cooling Technologies in 2030, 2016
International Renewable Energy Agency: Water Use in China’s Power Sector: Impact of Renewables and Cooling Technologies to 2030, 2016
International Renewable Energy Agency: Geothermal Power Technology Brief, 2017
International Renewable Energy Agency: Water Use in India’s Power Generation: Impact of Renewables and Improved Cooling Technologies to 2030, 2018
International Renewable Energy Agency: Renewable Energy Market Analysis: GCC, 2019
The World Resources Institute
The World Resources Institute (WRI) published a report entitled Water-Energy Nexus: Business Risks and Rewards in 2016. The report assesses emerging risks and offers ideas for finding solutions at the water-energy nexus. It examines two specific questions: Where are companies facing risks at the nexus of water and energy resource challenges? and What are the opportunities for companies to reduce exposure to these risks and meet customers’ needs in tomorrow’s markets?
For more information on relevant WRI publications and work, please see the following references:
World Resources Institute: Water-Energy-Nexus: Business risks and rewards, 2016
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) published in 2020 a report entitled Towards sustainable renewable energy investment and deployment: Trade-offs and opportunities with water resources and the environment. This “tool-kit” publication proposes a pragmatic approach to support policy-makers in: enhancing cooperation on renewable energy across sectors including water; exploring co-financing and partnership opportunities; maximizing and multiplying the benefits of renewables; and reducing their negative impact on the environment and local communities.
For more information on relevant UNECE publications and work, please see the following references:
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe: A Nexus Approach to the Transboundary Cooperaiton: The Experience of the Water Convention, 2018
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe: Towards sustainable renewable energy investment and deployment: Trade-offs and opportunities with water resources and the environment, 2020