©DIE
This year, the United Nations World Water Day on March 22 focuses on “Valuing Water”. The water team of the German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) launched several publications and events that highlight the important role of water resources for human development and at the institute. The current column by Jean Carlo Rodriguez de Francisco and Mirja Schoderer warns against treating water solely as a “commodity” in development cooperation and thereby neglecting environmental justice. In her article with Tobias von Lossow (Clingendael), Annabelle Houdret explains the important role of water resources for the sustainable development agenda. In a recent discussion paper by DIE, Srinivasa Srigiri and Ines Dombrowsky show how the 2030 Agenda can better address trade-offs in water use for energy, food production and ecosystem needs. The podcast episode of the scientific publisher Elsevier with Michael Brüntrup and Annabelle Houdret emphasises the need to consider the close interlinkages between water resources and drought in the implementation of Development Goal 6 (“Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all”).
On the occasion of the World Water Day 2021, the Bonn Water Network (BWN), which was co-founded by DIE, launched the new “Handbook on Water Resources” to be published this year by Springer. More than 100 participants from around the world followed the event. Several BWN authors contributed to the 850-page book and shared their perspectives on the value of water during a panel discussion. On the same day, the new website of the BWN was launched: www.bonnwaternetwork.de compiles information on all member institutions, includes the greeting of Bonn’s mayor Katja Dörner on the BWN event and provides the recordings of previous events of the network.
Here you can watch the recording of the event: https://youtu.be/B8M44eKNmxM
