World Water Week: Energy and Water are critical for Sustainable Development

Stockholm, 1 September 2014 – Kandeh Yumkella tells global leaders gathered in Stockholm for the 24th annual World Water Week, “We must rethink the way we produce and use energy and water to ensure shared prosperity for all citizens, protect the environment and ensure sustainable socio-economic development.” Participants from around the world attending the 24th annual World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden have urged the energy and water communities to work together to underscore the critical link between energy and water as it relates to socio-economic development. Speakers at the opening plenary noted that those who lack access to energy are the same people without access to water and sanitation, the so-called “bottom billion.” Of the seven billion people on earth today, reports estimate that 2.5 billion people have unreliable or no access to electricity and 2.8 billion live in areas of high water stress. The 1.3 billion who lack access to electricity often rely on traditional sources of energy such as coal, wood, animal waste for cooking and heating purposes and kerosene or candles for lighting. Another 768 million people remain without access to improved source of water. Given that energy and water are interdependent, experts noted that by 2035 energy consumption will increase by 35% which will in turn, increase water consumption by 85%. As such, decisions made for the production of energy and water use and management have multifaceted, significant and broad reaching impacts on each other and can share a mix of positive and negative consequences. Calling on the attention of the global community to confront the problems faced by the “bottom billion,” Kandeh Yumkella, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and CEO of the Sustainable Energy for All, noted that “as global demand for both energy and water increases, we must think about the way we produce and use both to ensure shared prosperity for all citizens, protect the environment, achieve socio-economic development and secure peace and stability.”   “How can you reduce poverty in the world without access to energy?” asked Dr. Yumkella. “It is not possible and that is why we have been trying so hard to get global leaders to realise that energy has to be central to sustainable development. For us, this is the first step, to accept that energy is the ultimate enabler for food security, access to clean water and women’s economic empowerment.” On climate change, Yumkella noted that energy and water challenges will be further exacerbated by the growing influence of climate change particularly on the demand and supply chains of these resources. “If business as usual continues, everyone will suffer in “climate hell” said he. As is lack of energy access and water, climate change is causing considerable havoc in our economies and underscored the importance of the initiative global targets, providing universal access to modern energy services, doubling the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency and doubling the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix as a “game changer” for creating an energy revolution needed for economic growth and an environment that allows all to thrive. The Open Working Group recently concluded their 18-month long work on the Sustainable Development Goals as they replace the Millennium Development Goals which will expire in 2015. The goals to be forwarded to the 69th session of the General Assembly include two standalone goals on water and energy; to “Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation and “Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.”   CEO Kandeh Yumkella, Photo credit: Thomas Henrikson High-Level Ministerial Panel, photo credit: World Water Week 2014