As a contribution to the Rio+20 process, this Conference will provide an opportunity to showcase how water is a key factor in the green economy and how different tools can promote CHANGE. This will be illustrated through specific practical examples of the use of the tools to facilitate change in different regions of the world. The aim is to focus on those tools that support the transition, reflect on lessons learnt from practical implementation experiences, and highlight the importance of the specific context.
This will support the preparation process of moving towards Rio+20 and contribute to the compilation of the toolbox or best practice guide for actions which promote water in the green economy.
The focus of the conference is on how these tools support the change processes related to four specific issues: agriculture, cities, industry and watersheds.
|Issues||Focus issues for green growth|
|Agriculture||Water and food security
Improve efficiency and nutrition per drop
Improve efficiencies through the food value chain
Challenges for Small farms in LDCs (occupation of marginal land, 85% of the farms worldwide, potential exporters)
|Cities||No excuse MDGs – basic water and sanitation services
Changes in water consumption patterns in cities (direct and indirect)
Improve effectiveness and quality of urban water services
Reduce externalities of cities to the water environment
|Industry||Change production patterns
Improve efficiency and reduce pollution
Challenges for small and medium enterprises in LDCs
Climate change and extreme events
Protection of biodiversity
The conference considers the concerns of developing countries highlighted for the upcoming UNCSD (A/CONF.216/PC/7). It also builds on the recommendation from the First Intersessional Meeting for the UNCSD Conference 'Synthesis Report on Best Practices and Lessons Learnt on Objectives and Themes of the Conference' (A/CONF.216/PC/8, Jan 2011), which highlighted that international preparations for UNCSD should strengthen support for sustainable development by providing a platform for exchanging best practices and lessons learnt.
The concerns of developing countries include: utilising the environment for trade protection; gaining market access through the guise of environment; the subsidizing of production in the developed world without developing countries being able to implement corrective measures; reduced possibilities for developing countries to develop their own green economy sectors; technical standards that developing countries exporters cannot meet; new conditionalities imposed for aid, loans, debt rescheduling and debt relief; and equity dimensions.
According to UNDESA (A/CONF.216/PC/7), developing countries have the following concerns:
For these reasons, developed and developing countries have common but differentiated responsibilities in the transition to a green economy. Generally, the focus in developed countries is on improving their consumption and production patterns, whereas the focus in developing countries is on maintaining development goals while adopting sustainable practices. Developed countries have a responsibility to enable and support the transition in developing countries through finance, technology transfer and appropriate reforms to the global economic and financial structures.
>> Ch1 Water on the Road to Rio+20
>> Ch2 Challenges and opportunities for water in the transition to a GE
>> Ch3 Thematic conference papers
>> Ch4 Conference summary: Water in the GE in practice
>> Ch5 The way forward
>> A1 Water toolbox: A contribution to Rio+20
>> A2 Feedback report
>> A3 Communications report