The Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) has published the Final Programme for World Water Week 2014 which starts on Sunday – this year’s thematic focus is on the energy-water nexus.

Introducing the Final Programme, Torgny Holmgren, Executive Director of the Institute, said this year’s conference was specifically focussed on energy and water, describing the two sectors as inextricably linked and interdependent. Energy generation requires water for cooling, storage, biofuels, hydropower etc, while water requires energy needed to pump, treat and desalinate for water.

The issue is now high up on international political and business agendas - in July for example,  the US Government published a major new report -- The Water-Energy Nexus: Challenges and Opportunities. 

Last year the U.S. Department of Energy also released a new report - U.S. Energy Sector Vulnerabilities to Climate Change and Extreme Weather - assessing how America’s critical energy and electricity infrastructure is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Introducing the report, the Department commented:

"When severe drought affected more than a third of the United States in 2012, limited water availability constrained the operation of some power plants and other energy production activities. Hurricane Sandy demonstrated the compounding ramifications of vital water infrastructure losing power. The recent boom in domestic unconventional oil and gas development has added complexity to the national dialogue on the relationship between energy and water resources."

The accelerating urgency of the issue is in marked contrast to the final declaration “The Future We Want” from world leaders at the Rio+20 Summit in 2012 where the chapter on energy contained no reference to water, and the water chapter likewise did not mention energy. However, World Water Week will highlight the amount of work which is still needed to make significant progress at a global level in both developed and developing economies. The Final Programme states:

“Clearly, whilst a lot of information about the water-energy linkages has been developed, awareness and knowledge have not transcended sectoral boundaries at the administrative and political levels. “

Energy and water professionals from the global science and research communities, governments, international organisations, civil society and the private sector will converge on Stockholm next week to take part in wide-ranging discussions in a host of seminars, workshops, panel debates and keynote presentations.

Sessions include:

• Does water footprint assessment enhance sustainable management of river basins?
• Energy investments and infrastructure providing  benefits across the nexus
• EU Water Initiative multistakeholder forum
• How the two Global Water Conventions support  transboundary water cooperation
• Producing electricity with less water: new perspectives for renewables in a water-constrained world
• The global dialogue on water security and sustainable growth
• Entwined predicaments: limits facing water and energy
• Sustainable hydropower – the search for common ground
• Water, energy, food and ecosystems security
• Improving the impacts and effectiveness of corporate water stewardship initiatives
• Water and shale energy development: risks and future implications for society
• Lessons and resources: the energy-water nexus in the US
• Bridging water & energy service delivery with mobiles and information technology
• Water as energy storage for better integration of renewables

Click here to download the Final Programme. Alternatively, access the Programme online.

Visit the website at www.worldwaterweek.org