Key themes

The DNC 2015 will deal with challenges posed by global change, based on the nexus approach to the sustainable management of environmental resources, water, soil and waste. There will be three thematic topics over the course of three days; each day will deal with one aspect of global change: climate, urbanization and population growth. It will be discussed how the integrated management of environmental resources guided by nexus approach may help to achieve the potential targets of the post-2015 agenda.

Key theme of day 1: Climate Change

This day will show how adopting a nexus approach may mitigate the growing water, food and energy insecurity due to climate change from an environmental resources perspective.

In many regions of the world, food and water security are at risk due to the overuse of water resources, soil degradation, erosion and contamination. Climate change will further exacerbate these risks, particularly in water-limited environments and in marginal regions via various mechanisms such as enhancing desertification, increasing frequency of floods and droughts, which will intensify soil erosion, loss of nutrients, etc. Energy security, particularly if linked to biomass and/or hydropower will also be affected. The intricate inter-linkage of water and soil resources per se requires an integrated – thus a nexus approach for sustainable management of water, soil and waste. This necessity becomes even more important under conditions of climate change. In particular, extreme events also pose serious challenges to waste management: wastewater treatment is impaired both by floods and droughts, solid waste and hazardous waste, not collected and stored properly will contaminate wide areas, clogg sewer systems, etc. in case of flooding. Contributions to this thematic topic thus might include, but are not limited to, adapted land-use and irrigation management (potentially including wastewater reuse), rain water harvesting, management of multi-purpose reservoirs, generation of energy by hydropower as well as aspects of urban planning (addressing water, soil and waste resources) and drought and flood risk management. Emphasis will be placed on case studies providing insight in the implementation of adaptation measures and the involvement of stakeholders and the public.

OVERARCHING QUESTIONS GUIDING ORGANIZATION OF THEME 1

How and by which management options may a nexus approach to the management of water, soil and waste contribute to mitigate adverse effects of climate change, e.g. land degradation and desertification due to drought on water, food and energy security?
How might current management strategies be adapted considering the need to address increasing uncertainty, frequency, intensity and duration of extreme events and balancing trade-offs between sectors?
What lessons can be drawn based on international and multi-level governance arrangements that respond to the challenges posed by stronger inter-dependencies between water, soil and waste resources on account of climate change?

Key theme of day 2: Urbanization

The objective of the day is to explore opportunities for multi-level governance arrangements that foster inclusive forms of urbanization based on an improved understanding of trade-offs and scope for synergies.

A majority of the world’s population presently lives in urban areas. Demand for water, energy and food from rural and peri-urban areas is on the rise. Rising income and changing employment patterns in cities and rural hinterland is likely to lead to increased investment in infrastructure such as roads, water transport, sanitation and urban drainage systems. Increased construction of infrastructure is likely to expand the area under built environment with consequences in the form of altered resource fluxes and flows. The resource poor in slums within a city are likely to be adversely affected by such trends due to their inability to access services such as water supply, urban drainage or sewage. Climate change is likely to exacerbate such trends because of increased frequency, intensity and duration of extreme weather events. Increased variability in temperature and rainfall patterns will be reflected in floods and droughts with consequences for public health especially among the poor in low-lying areas and slums. As economic activity increases in cities in developing and emerging economies trade-offs between the use of water, waste and soil resources, equity and sustainable management of environmental resources are also likely to increase. Further, the search for synergies is likely to intensify as governments at different levels (international, national and local) engage private and citizen groups to identify opportunities for resource optimization through efficient use of environmental and budgetary resources. How equipped is the scientific community to capture changes in human behavior (such as cropping practices), analyze their impact on bio-physical processes and build capacity of governments to predict and respond to environmental shocks and stresses (examples: decline in soil fertility and air quality, increased GHG emissions, deterioration in water quality or increased incidence of floods and droughts)?

OVERARCHING QUESTIONS GUIDING ORGANIZATION OF THEME 2

What knowledge and information gaps exist with regard to our understanding of trade-offs between the use of water, waste and soil resources in urban areas, equity and sustainable management of environmental resources?
What lessons can be drawn based on trans-boundary and multi-level governance arrangements that respond to the challenges posed by stronger inter-dependencies between water, soil and waste resources on account of urbanization?
What role can international cooperation play in fostering sustainable and inclusive forms of urbanization covering (but not limited to) issues such as SMART buildings, technology transfer, city sanitation planning, results based financing and methodologies for performance benchmarking?

Key theme of day 3: Population growth and the increasing demand for environmental resources

This day will show that the management of environmental resources guided by a nexus approach can support the sustainable and economic feasible intensification of biomass production.

Demography is changing rapidly, but the degree of change generally differs between developed and developing countries. In more developed countries, societies are often shrinking and aging whereas in many developing countries the population is growing. Demographic changes are related to increased environmental resources uses, housing demand, labor force, food preference and lifestyle, adaptation to new technologies and systems. This session focuses on strategies to address challenges for sustainable resource management posed by population growth: In 2011, the world’s population reached 7 Billion. Roughly one of eight suffered from chronic hunger in the period from 2011 to 2013. Despite of all efforts, the number of undernourished people is constantly on the rise because of population growth, limited resources availability and environmental degradation. It is expected that 9.6 Billion people will be living on our planet by 2050. How to feed an increasing and more demanding world population – while reducing GHG emissions from agriculture – is therefore one of the greatest challenges in the 21st century. The increasing demand for food and animal feed competes with the rising demands for biofuel. At the same time, increasing soil and land degradation as well as the accelerating pace of conversion of fertile arable land in peri-urban areas into residential and commercial areas induces significant stress on the remaining soils of good quality. Biomass production depends not only on soil but also on water resources. The agricultural sector, the largest fresh water consumer, accounts for 70% of global use. But pollution and over-use of water resources as well as changes in historical rainfall patterns are contributing to water scarcity and therefore, impair biomass production in many regions of the world. Despite some progress, farming mainly focuses on maximization of crop yield and income. It is yet well-understood that this narrow view depletes natural capital and produces significant quantities of global greenhouse gases and other pollutants, which disproportionately affect the poor (UNEP, 2011).

OVERARCHING QUESTIONS GUIDING ORGANIZATION OF THEME 3

1. What are the implications for agricultural systems and practices of adopting a Nexus approach?

2. What are the co-benefits of adopting a nexus approach to the management of soil and land for other resources such as water and waste? How does recycling of water and waste contribute to higher resources efficiency?

3. What are the economical, institutional, regional and scientific barriers to implement farming practices guided by the integrated management of soil, water and waste?