©Bonn Water Network
About 200 people from all over the world followed the second online event of the new Bonn Water Network on “Addressing water as a crosscutting element of the Sustainable Development Goals” on 16 December 2020.
In her moderation, Dr. Annabelle Houdret, German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE), speaker of the network, highlighted that Sustainable Development Goal 6 on clean water and sanitation is crucial for the implementation of many other SDGs such as food security, health, education, land or energy. In his keynote, Dr. Srinivasa Srigiri (DIE) introduced the topic and pointed out that across the 2030 Agenda, many goals depend on the availability of and access to water. He presented an analytical approach to identify and address the arising interlinkages and trade-offs from a governance perspective.
The following debate of the Bonn Water Network’s members highlighted different implications of these interlinkages. Prof. Dr. Mariele Evers, UNESCO chair ‚Human Water Systems‘ at Bonn university’s department of Geography, highlighted that her experiences with inter- and transdisciplinary water research was both challenging and enriching. Dr. Yvonne Walz from the United Nations University’s Institute for Environmental and Human Security explained that interlinkages between different SDGs are highly relevant for developping appropriate approaches to disaster risk management and climate change adaptation. Dr. Birgit Kemmerling, researcher at the Bonn International Center for Conversion, illustrated the interlinkages between water and land resources in a context of high water scarcity in Morocco. Dr. Daniel Tsgeai who works as Programme Officer at United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification explained how important it is to bring researchers and policymakers together to address water scarcity in the context of drought extremes. Dr. Luna Bharati, a researcher at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and at the Center for Development Research, illustrated how climate change impacts the Water-Energy-Food-Environment Nexus in Africa and Asia.
The event was part of the lecture series “Cooperation in water management – tackling a global challenge” organized by UNU FLORES; TU Dresden and the University of Bonn.
For further information on the network please check our website „Water Governance“ or contact the speaker Dr. Annabelle Houdret (Annabelle.houdret@die-gdi.de).