Last Thursday, September 30, the ninth session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes was carried out, it was organized by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) in cooperation with the Estonian Government. During the meeting, defined as a milestone to review and accelerate progress towards achieving SDG target 6.5, challenges and good practices related to cooperation in transboundary waters and the role of the Convention were discussed. The event was attended by representatives of the ministries responsible for water, environment, foreign relations, and development cooperation, as well as international and non-governmental organizations and the academic world from all over the world.
Panel 8 of the event, called "Water-food-energy-ecosystems nexus in transboundary basins" included the participation of the economic affairs officer of the Natural Resources Division of ECLAC, Silvia Saravia-Matus, who talked about ECLAC'S vision on the Nexus approach in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), she highlighted the importance of this approach in water management as 70% of water bodies are transboundary.
Saravia also commented on the results obtained at the meeting of experts that took place in February this year, which was jointly organized by ECLAC, ECE and the IDB. This meeting was focused precisely on transboundary basins and highlighted opportunities to take the nexus approach in them.
Finally, Saravia sent a message of positivity, celebrating the growing acceptance of the need for greater protection of ecosystems in LAC, including transboundary basins. She urged organizations to promote intersectoral and cross-border coordination, also promoting nature-based solutions as a paradigm shift from traditional management of water resources towards circular water management to achieve water security.
Item 8. Water-food-energy-ecosystems nexus in transboundary basins Tentative timing: Thursday, 30 September, 3–3.45 p.m.
Presentation "From nexus assessments to nexus solutions and investments”
Mr. Seppo Rekolainen (Chair of Nexus Task Force)
Ms. Lucia de Strasser (Water Convention Secretariat)
Interventions :
Mr. Mirza HUJIC, Assistant Minister (Sector for Water Resources, Tourism and Environment Protection) Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Drina River Basin: Roadmap/Nexus approach for coordinated climate action
Ms. Heide JEKEL on behalf of Germany, input from Mr. Jürgen KEINHORST (Director, BMU, Germany) IKI project “Regional mechanisms for the low-carbon, climate resilient transformation of the energy-water-land Nexus in Central Asia”; cooperation UNECE ENV-SED
Ms. Margalita ARABIDZE, Deputy Head of Energy Reforms and International Relations Department, Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, Georgia. Alazani/Ganykh: Nexus assessment and how its recommendations were reflected in Georgia’s national and local strategies
Ms. Silvia SARAVIA, Economic Affairs Officer, Water & Energy Unit, Division of Natural Resources, ECLAC. Cooperation between UNECE and ECLAC on the promotion of nexus approach at national and tb levels and experiences from LAC on nexus solutions (expert meeting Feb 2021).
Mr. Raul MUNOZ CASTILLO, Senior Water Specialist, IADB. Importance of cross-sectoral and tb cooperation to facilitate investments in shared basins, and experience/perspective from LAC.
Mr. Dimitris FALOUTSOS Deputy Regional Coordinator, GWP-Med. Cooperation in Western Balkans and MENA. Incl. Reporting from the side-event on nexus (29 September)
Briefing note
Briefing note
Briefing note
