The concept of “nexus” thinking has been with us for over half a century under different names, such as holistic, integrative, and trans-disciplinary thinking. The need for integration in solving complex problems has long been recognized, leading to a variety of approaches and areas of study.

For the Dialogues, a “nexus” approach is the one that focuses on overlaps across sectors while respecting sectoral expertise in order to make better plans by understanding interactions. Sector experts know their business, while very few people are experts on the overlaps across fields. Thus, we advocate a nexus approach to utilize the benefits of sectoral expertise focused on breaking down the complexity of the overlaps of these sectors.

The purpose is practical: to make better plans through an understanding of interactions. There are numerous techniques available for a nexus approach, and UN agencies have been applying some of them. Those techniques may or may not have been designed with “nexus” in mind, but they are practical methods to clarify thinking when problems involve overlaps across different domains.

  • How is the nexus approach a useful tool for advancing the environmental dimensions of the 2030 agenda?
  • How has a nexus approach influenced your work?
  • Do you have experience with applying a nexus methodology? 
25 Apr 2017 - 9 Jun 2017

Comments (31)

Juan E. Chebly
Juan E. Chebly Moderator

Dear colleagues,

A very warm welcome to the first e-discussion of the UN Environment Management Group - Nexus Dialogue Series: "Nexus issues and opportunities to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda" from 25 April to 24 May 2017.

The puzzle of sustainable development cannot be solved by solely concentrating on the pieces. It has to be seen as a whole and not only as a series of isolated issues and problems. For these dialogues, a “nexus” approach is the one that focuses on overlaps across sectors while respecting sectoral expertise in order to make better plans by understanding interactions. This e-discussion seeks successful examples and lessons learned from this methodology. 

As moderator of this thematic window, I wish to present to you the following three questions:

  1. Do you have experience with applying a nexus methodology? 
  2. How has a nexus approach influenced your work?
  3. How is the nexus approach a useful tool for advancing the environmental dimensions of the 2030 agenda?

We look forward to a lively and rich discussion in the next few weeks!

Christina Ude
Christina Ude

Hello Juan, not sure if I clicked on right button. Sometimes I click on reply button and nothing opens so that's why I'm posting here. Juan, I need some help for an SDG framework I'm working on. Question, do you have a link or site where I can find a compilation of roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders, youth, private sector, academia etc. Not satisfied with what I'm finding online. I need detailed compilation. Thanks .

Frederic Ballenegger
Frederic Ballenegger

Follow @EMGDialogues on Twitter for live updates during the first EMG Nexus Dialogue!

The title of the conference is "The Nexus Approach and the environmental dimension of the 2030 Agenda: Policy, Practice and Partnerships"  and the agenda and list of speakers are available on https://unemg.org/emg-nexus-dialogues/dialogue-1.

Ms Shirley
Ms Shirley

I have no experience in applying a nexus methodology.  This is new to me.  However, based on the concept note, it sounds similar to an interdisciplinary approach with a structured methodology.  I am eager to learn more about the nexus approach, its methodology, mapping, developing a matrix, identifying gaps, and how it overlaps and interacts across the sectors. 

Is the brief presentation which reports the outcomes of the previous dialogues available? And has the platform for persons to check-in with best practices and lessons learnt been developed.

Juan E. Chebly
Juan E. Chebly Moderator

Dear S ann, Thank you for sharing your insight. Indeed the nexus approach is an example of interdisciplinary approaches to sustainable development. Specifically more information about this particular approach can be found here: http://wef-conference.gwsp.org/fileadmin/documents_news/Call_to_Action.pdf 

This platform indeed seeks to gather best practices and lessons learnt, so please feel free to share your own experiences with regards to your interdisciplinary experience.  Best regards!

Ms Shirley
Ms Shirley

Juan, thank you for your response.  I actually see value in the nexus approach and will formally do some research and develop tools to apply it.  The mapping and matrix seems complicated and could loose its objective without a coding system.   I will share as I learn and apply it.  Since you are an expert on the topic, any advice you may offer is welcomed, and if I have any questions, I will let you know.

With respect to the interdisciplinary approach, I gained my knowledge of it while studying for my MSc integrating law and social science.  I use the interdisciplinary approach primarily for legislative advocacy or public awareness in areas of environmental law, education and civil and human rights in employment, housing, and public accommodations. The approach is participatory and holistic and studies across domains to ensure all interrelated factors are considered in the decision-making of laws and policies.  Its objective is to prevent any potential adverse impacts on a particular group or unintended consequences, and to highlight any other concerns, if any.  

Juan E. Chebly
Juan E. Chebly Moderator

Thank you for your insight and for the work that you do. Your input on the matrix and mapping is much appreciated. Would you kindly share any links, material, examples of the participatory and holistic approach you mention? This I am sure will be very useful for the purpose of this e-discussion. With regards, Juan.

Christina Ude
Christina Ude

Hello everyone, glad to be part of the discussion. I'm hoping to learn and gain insight on the Nexus issues.

Juan, I don't have any experience with applying a nexus methodology, so, in essence, I can't state how the nexus approach would be a useful tool for advancing the environmental dimensions of the 2030 agenda.

 I will do some research on this and would take a look at links provided above. I'm currently working with the parliament, and at the moment, I'm working on an SDG delivery framework for the National Assembly.

Juan E. Chebly
Juan E. Chebly Moderator

Thanks Christina for participating in the e-discussion. I am sharing some links that might be useful to your work with parliamentarians and teh 2030 Agenda. This is a manual by the International Parliamentary Union: http://www.ipu.org/pdf/publications/sdg-toolkit-e.pdf 

And here another one by UNDP: https://myworld2015.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/parliamentary-manual-updated.pdf 

Hope these are useful.

Regards,

Juan

Ms Shirley
Ms Shirley

FYI, Bestclimatepractices.org has an "interactive platform that collects a selection of practices that deserves attention for their originality, positive impact in dealing with climate change [including, water, food, and energy, among others], implementation potential and replicability at the local, regional, national and global level."  Whether the nexus approach was applied is not known, but worthy to investigate.  If not, the practices may be useful for comparative analyses.

Juan E. Chebly
Juan E. Chebly Moderator

Many thanks once again for sharing, this looks like a valuable resource. Your contributions are most appreciated. Regards, Juan

SDG Fund
SDG Fund

Dear colleagues,

We would like to share the experience of the SDG Fund, the first UN development cooperation mechanism that implements the SDGs through its partnerships between UN agencies, national governments, academia, civil society and private sector. The SDG Fund promotes the integrative approach and the universality of action where all actors have a critical role to play in accelerating the achievement of the SDGs. It is not possible to consider the public sector and the UN agencies to be solely responsible for the achievement of the 2030 Agenda. The SDG Fund works with an innovative and efficient methodology -  joint programmes. The SDG Fund integrate collaborative efforts across the UN System, supporting joint programmes in 22 countries with a total budget of around USD 70 million.

The SDG Fund works in 4 regions (Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Arab States), addressing climate change as one of 17 Global Goals that make up the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. For instance, in Cuba, the SDG Fund is strengthening resilience and improving access to water in tackling the impacts of recent droughts, noted as the worst in recent history, affecting more than one million people. In Fiji, the SDG Fund programme is building the capacity of young farmers in organic agriculture for climate resilience. In Bolivia, a food security and nutrition programme is promoting the use of solar energy in the food production. In Mozambique, the SDG Fund is providing training opportunities on green construction using traditional techniques and materials.

The SDG Fund is proactive and groundbreaking as it was one of the first mechanisms to implement joint programmes in the field, working alongside UN agencies, national governments, civil society, business, academia and communities. This unique collaboration has led to broad and more inclusive programs that combine inputs and expertise from non-traditional actors including the private sector, civil society and academia to maximize results and increase impact of the programmes.

Please consult our website to learn more about our work: http://www.sdgfund.org/

Juan E. Chebly
Juan E. Chebly Moderator

Dear SDG Fund,

Many thanks for sharing your fantastic work which seems to be all quite inline with the Nexus Methodology and the integrated approach to Sustainable Development. The collaborative and open nature of your work is also commendable. We look forward to hearing more from you as the conversation develops. 

With regards,

Juan

Juan E. Chebly
Juan E. Chebly Moderator

Dear Colleagues,
I am sharing quite an interesting example of a nexus approach (water-food) in practice by FAO to kick-start further discussion:
FAO AquaCrop:

AquaCrop is a crop water productivity model developed by the Land and Water Division of FAO to address food security and to assess the effect of environment and management on crop production. AquaCrop simulates yield response to water of herbaceous crops, and is particularly suited to address conditions where water is a key limiting factor in crop production. When designing the model, an optimum balance between simplicity, accuracy and robustness was pursued. To be widely applicable AquaCrop uses only a relatively small number of explicit parameters and mostly-intuitive input-variables requiring simple methods for their determination. On the other hand, the calculation procedures is grounded on basic and often complex biophysical processes to guarantee an accurate simulation of the response of the crop in the plant-soil system. see more via: http://www.fao.org/land-water/databases-and-software/aquacrop/about-aqu…

Ms Shirley
Ms Shirley

Good Afternoon Everyone!

Is anyone attending the "Dresden Nexus Conference" that is currently convening until May 19?  Please do share.

 

Margaret O'Dwyer
Margaret O'Dwyer

Margaret O'Dwyer and Teresa Blumenstein, USA--Our NGO Committee on Migration Subcom-mittee on Climate-Induced Displacement    wanted to share the following Nexus: 

The issues of climate change and forced migration (displacement) are intersecting in an ever-growing number of ways and geographical contexts. Their nexus is also tethered to every one of the SDGS: poverty and unemployment; food, housing, energy, and water insecurity; cultural, identity, sovereignty, and governance concerns. The new IDMC report from 2017 reflects that over 227 million people were internally displaced by sudden-onset environmental disasters (e.g. floods, storms, wildfires, and earthquakes) from 2008 to 2016. This figure does not even include persons displaced across international borders or persons displaced by slow-onset disasters (e.g. drought, desertification, and sea level rise). In the absence of new adaptation measures, we can expect a 2°C warming of the earth’s atmosphere and 50cm sea level rise (Schleussner et al 2016) that will force 72 million people to flee their homes, 53 million of them from Asia, before the end of this century (Nicholls et al, 2010). Long-term sea level rise (beyond 2100) could submerge islands and coastal areas that are currently home to 280 million people globally (Strauss 2015 as cited in CARE Denmark’s Fleeing Climate Change: Impacts on Migration and Displacement, November, 2016).

The NGO Committee on Migration Subcommittee on Climate-Induced Displacement is working to call attention to this issue. We bring a climate perspective to migration meetings and a migration perspective to climate meetings in UN fora. We also work for the inclusion of grassroots voices in UN conversations on the subject. This month, we sponsored a side-event to the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues during which our panelists from a Native American tribe, a Pacific Island nation, and an indigenous Amazonian tribe made pleas to governments to plan for slow-onset disasters (e.g. drought and sea level rise), to accelerate efforts to honor carbon emission reduction commitments, and to “heal the Earth” whose warming waters are killing fish while temperatures are stunting crops and leaving people without means to survive on the land.

In addition to these actions, significant work must be done at the global level in order to address the issue of climate-induced displacement. First, UN conventions on refugees do not provide protection for persons displaced by climate change and disaster, and all existing guidelines on the matter are non-binding. As a result, the international responses to the needs of this population are either absent or insufficient. As CARE Denmark’s 2016 report, Fleeing Climate Change, states, “The current protection and migration system is dysfunctional and in need of revision.” Humanitarian aid must be channeled to those in need, whether internally or externally displaced, and to the host communities sustaining their access to human rights. We therefore call upon the UN system for enhanced data collection that would enable the identification of climate-displaced persons and for the implementation of national action plans for their protection as forced, vulnerable migrants who do not qualify for refugee status. We also voice strong support for the Protection Agenda put forth by the Nansen Initiative and the commitment to address environmental drivers of forced migration as put forth in the New York Declaration.

Next, we call on Member States to lessen their environmental impacts by honoring the carbon-reduction and financial commitments of the Paris Climate Agreement (and encourage them to go beyond the minimum requirements of the Agreement to keep global warming to 1.5°C). The longer diplomats allow terminology and money to act as stumbling blocks for political will to act and protect, the more people will face food insecurity, water scarcity, homelessness, poverty, the loss of deep connection with their indigenous lands, and many other rights due to climate-induced displacement.

Finally, nations must intentionally adapt to and plan for slow-onset and unexpected disasters. We are haunted by a statement from a Pacific island resident who said that seawalls don’t help hold back the sea because “the saltwater is seeping up from below.” With this testimony in mind, we call for investment in science and technology which might advance climate change adaptation to address problems such this one, which put entire nations and cultures at risk of disappearing. We urge the UN system to undertake this critical task through the implementation of the “loss and damage” section of the Paris Climate Agreement, which calls for a task force with a mandate to develop recommendations for integrated approaches to avert, minimize, and address displacement related to the adverse impacts of climate change. It is our recommendation that the task force to operate in consultation with those who are most affected by climate change and that the task force be adequately funded, especially with support from those nations that have reaped the greatest economic and developmental benefits from environmentally harmful industrial activity.

 

Juan E. Chebly
Juan E. Chebly Moderator

Many thanks Margaret and NGO-Committe on Migration for this insightful and much appreciated contribution to a crucial Nexus Issue. 

Best regards,

Juan

Juan E. Chebly
Juan E. Chebly Moderator

Dear colleagues,

With thanks to our colleagues from UN Environment, I am sharing a bit of information on an upcoming conference on the Nexus: Water, Food, Energy and Climate:

April 16-18, 2018
The “Nexus” approach is the one that focuses on overlaps across sectors while respecting sectoral expertise in order to make better plans by understanding interactions.
(Stockholm Environment Institute, 2017)
The Water Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is pleased to announce our intention to reconvene our Nexus conference addressing Water-Energy-Food and Climate in spring of 2018.
This will be the second Nexus Conference that The Water Institute has organized. The first in 2014 made a significant input to the negotiations for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), through the Chapel Hill Declaration.
The 2030 Agenda adopted in 2015 at its heart has 17 SDGs, 169 targets and 232 indicators. It is the blueprint to a more sustainable, fair and equitable world. It is the first global agreement that recognizes the interlinkages between sectors and suggests ways to address them.
The 2018 Nexus Conference will focus on the:

  • Science-policy interface;
  • partnerships;
  • solutions;
  • review of Sustainable Development Goal commitments (2018 and for the Heads of State review in 2019);
  • sharing of tools, indicators and methodologies; and
  • the identification of gaps.

The conference will facilitate space for the development of collaborative work.
It will build on recognizing and respecting the work that sector experts are engaged with while also addressing some key challenges that will require a Nexus approach these include:

  • Agriculture will have to produce 30-50% more food by 2030
  • Primary energy needs will increase by 40% by 2030
  • Demand for water will exceed global availability by 40 % in 2030
  • Surge of 200 million climate change refugees will reverse global healthcare progress by 2050

Since the 2014 conference a number of areas that interface with the Nexus discourse have developed and the conference will address three cross cutting areas.
These will be the urban challenge – where the Nexus tradeoffs really become vital to communities and people’s lives.
The conference will look at the health-related Nexus issues recognizing that with climate change these will increase.
Finally, it will look at the migration and mobility as governments and stakeholders start to develop the Global Compact on Migration over the next two years. Nexus issues play a critical role in the increase of migration as food and water become scarce and climate change impacts are increasingly have an effect.
The Nexus recognizes that there is no place in an interlinked world for isolated solutions aimed at just one sector. If the world is going to reduce hunger and eradicate poverty, achieving security for water, energy and food is critical. This challenge is becoming even more critical with the impacts of climate change, and water will be the medium by which we will address much of the Nexus.
The Nexus approach will maximize the benefits of sectoral expertise while working across the boundaries. It will seek practical and effective plans to better understand the interactions.
The Conference brings together scientists and academics, practitioners working in government, civil society and business, and other stakeholders to focus on how and why the nexus approach can be used on local and international levels.
Abstract submissions and conference registration will open June 15, 2017.
These should focus on the interface between some of the these Nexus areas:

  • Water;
  • Energy;
  • Food;
  • Climate Change;
  • Health;
  • Urban development;
  • Migration and mobility.

We are looking for examples of different mythological approaches, indicators being used, comparative studies, solutions, toolkits, successful partnerships, gaps to be addressed, and reviews of the implementation of the relevant SDGs that address Nexus issues.
http://waterinstitute.unc.edu/conferences/nexus-2018/

Juan E. Chebly
Juan E. Chebly Moderator

Dear colleagues,

I am sharing an interesting piece on The ‘Water-Employment-Migration’ :
 

By Baher Kamal
Reprint |      |  Print | Send by email

An explosive nexus in the Mediterranean: Water-Employment-Migration. Credit: Global Water Partnership
ROME, May 30 2017 (IPS) - Water–everybody talks about it, warns against its growing scarcity, excessive waste, the impact of climate change, the frequent severe droughts and so on. Now, a global action network with over 3,000 partner organisations in 183 countries comes to unveil the dangerous nexus between water, employment and migration, in particular in the Mediterranean region.
The Water-Employment-Migration nexus triggers a multi-faceted crisis posing major socio-political, economic and environmental risks in several regions (Africa, Asia, Europe), with the Mediterranean being in the eye of the cyclone, warns in fact the Global Water Partnership (GWP).
The Mediterranean is not only among the most arid regions in the world–parts of the region face a persistent economic crisis, socio-political instability, conflicts and large-scale migratory movements, often under dramatic conditions, putting further stress on the available water resources, adds this global network, whose partners work to make water a top policy priority.
Moreover, a recent GWP-led Regional Roundtable in Tunis highlighted several pressing facts, such as the eagerness of 25 per cent of the youth population in the Middle East and North of Africa (MENA) to migrate and seek for a better future away from home.

  •  



Youth unemployment in the region is at a global high, and it is the main driver for both males and females to migrate, GWP informed, adding that female youth is in an even more disadvantaged position suffering the triple burden of gender, age and skills mismatch.
Alarming Facts
No wonder. The leading United Nations agency in the fields of food and agriculture has recently revealed a set of alarming key facts about the dramatic water shortage in the region, specifically in the Middle East and North of Africa countries.
In fact, the Near East and North Africa fresh water resources are among the lowest in the world: they have decreased by two thirds during last 40 years and are expected to fall over 50 per cent by 2050, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has reported.
Should these facts not be enough, the specialised agency also informs that 90 per cent of the total land in the region lies within arid, semi/arid and dry sub/humid areas, while 45 per cent of the total agricultural area is exposed to salinity, soil nutrient depletion and wind water erosion.
At the same time, agriculture in the region uses approximately 85 per cent of the total available freshwater, while over 60 per cent of water resources in the region flows from outside national and regional boundaries.
Add to all the above that fact that groundwater, which has become a significant source of water across the region, and which is the basis for the rapid growth of new agricultural economies in the Arabian Peninsula, is now also experiencing significant depletion, according to FAO.
“The considerable degradation of water quality is accelerating, along with competition for water between all sectors.”
The cause of higher temperatures, droughts, floods and soil degradation, climate change will impose a further threat to the region’s water resources and food security,” the UN agency warns, adding that the decrease in production that this situation is likely to cause, could contribute to increasing the region’s current dependence on cereal imports.

  • “Water Scarcity – One of the greatest challenges of our time – FAO. Credit: FAO


The Needed Linkages
Experts from 13 institutions and organisations across 10 countries gathered in GWP-led Regional Roundtable in Tunis last December to elaborate on the linkages among water insecurity, enduring unemployment and increasing migration in the Mediterranean, emphasising also on youth and gender challenges.
The Roundtable discussions made evident that education is strongly correlated with employment and the MENA youth do not have the skills desired for employers.
“Designing tailored training programs to bridge this gap can gradually help decrease the unemployment ratio in the region, and improve female employability. Such training and educational programs will be among areas of focus in the development of the regional program on Water-Employment-Migration.”
Furthermore, the need to assist national and regional authorities in setting the needed institutional and regulatory ground for related successful measures was pinpointed, according to GWP.
“Development of strategies and action plans and/or operational mainstreaming of related considerations in existing national processes should assist in addressing the root causes of unemployment and migration and effectively contribute to water security in the Mediterranean. Synergies should be sought with neighbouring regions/countries that are migration-origins (in Africa, Asia) as well as destination countries (in Europe).”
The GWP network provides knowledge and builds capacity to improve water management at all levels.
The Water We “Eat”
Meanwhile, FAO also informs that the ‘water we eat’ daily through the food we consume is much more than what we drink, FAO informs, while providing some examples: Did you know depending on the diet, we need 2 000 to 5 000 litres of water to produce the food consumed daily by one person?
“As the global population is estimated to reach 10 billion people by 2050, demand for food is expected to surge by more than 50 per cent. Evidence suggests that two-thirds of the world population could be living in water-stressed countries by 2025 if current consumption patterns continue.”
Agriculture is both a major cause and casualty of water scarcity. Farming accounts for almost 70 per cent of all water withdrawals, and up to 95 per cent in some developing countries, the UN specialised agency reports.
Water scarcity is expected to intensify as a result of climate change, it adds, while informing that it is predicted to bring about increased temperatures across the world in the range of 1.6°c to as much as 6°c by 2050.
“For each 1 degree of global warming, 7 per cent of the global population will see a decrease of 20 per cent or more in renewable water resources.
Last but not leas, the UN agency also informs that each year, one-third of world food production is either lost or wasted — that translates into a volume of agriculture water wasted equal to around three times the volume of Lake Geneva.

Steve S.J. Lee
Steve S.J. Lee

It is my pleasure to be a part of this consultation process.

My name is Steve Lee and I am a 24-years-old climate change activist, Executive Director of Foundation for Environmental Stewardship, and a policy advocate to the United Nations on the issues of Climate Change, Sustainable Development, and Youth Empowerment. www.steveleesj.com

Our youth engagement work on both climate change and SDGs embrace a holistic approach that is based on the nexus methodology.

I'm leading the 3% Project that is going on 5 national tours across Canada to engage one million youth in 700 high schools – that’s about 3% of Canada and 1 in 5 high schools in the country – not only to educate them on climate change and renewable energy, but also to provide them the opportunities to exercise the muscle of sustainability problem-solving skills to make it a core competency of our generation. Students collectively determine what the most difficult environmental challenge is in their school and we connect local NGOs, business leaders, and teachers to provide mentorship to design solution projects to that problem. The 3% Projects empowers the next generation's executive function development for climate solutions. www.3percentproject.com

In celebration of Canada's 150th birthday, we are mobilizing 10,000 Canadian youth to advocate and implement the SDGs through 100 local actions and 50 trainings in colleges and universities across Canada in 2017. We have trained thousands of Canadian youth at 13 trainings so far and had UN officials share their experiences in implementing the SDGs in their context. We provide skills training for youth leaders and connect them with local organizations to provide concrete ways to implement the SDGs in their communities. www.UNSDGtraining.ca

In both programs, we ensure that the local implementation projects students undertake do not only tackle one SDG, but a minimum of 3 SDGs and must partner with other stakeholders who work on the remaining 14 SDGs. No one goal is more important than another and if we don't work together in close-knit partnerships like the Nexus Methodology, we run the risk of siloing our efforts, therefore, reducing their effectiveness.

Juan E. Chebly
Juan E. Chebly Moderator

Dear Steve,

Many thanks for sharing about your wonderful work, I am sure it would be of value to this and future e-discussions.

regards,

juan

Juan E. Chebly
Juan E. Chebly Moderator

Dear colleagues,

I am sharing another interesting piece from IISD about the:

UN Working-Level Water Dialogues Call for Integrated Approach on Water
by IISD/ENB | Kiara Worth
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
UN Member States took part in two ‘Working-Level Water Dialogues’ to discuss how to better coordinate and promote the UN’s work on water-related goals, in the lead-up to the International Decade for Action on Water for Sustainable Development.
The dialogues took place at UN Headquarters in New York, US on World Water Day, 22 March, and on 30 May.
Speakers discussed challenges of wastewater management, sustainable use, and possible institutional changes to address the fragmented approach to water issues in the UN system.
30 May 2017: UN Member States took part in two ‘Working-Level Water Dialogues’ to discuss how to better coordinate and promote the UN’s work on water-related goals, in the lead-up to the International Decade for Action on Water for Sustainable Development. The dialogues took place at UN Headquarters in New York, US on World Water Day, 22 March, and on 30 May. Speakers discussed challenges of wastewater management, sustainable use, and possible institutional changes to address the fragmented approach to water issues in the UN system.
The two dialogues were mandated by UN General Assembly resolution 71/222 of 21 December 2016, titled ‘International Decade for Action: Water for Sustainable Development 2018-2028.’ Katalin Bogyay, Permanent Representative of Hungary, and Lukmon Isomatov, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tajikistan, served as co-moderators.
The first dialogue included two panel discussions on: implementation of the water-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); and the role of the UN system. Speakers included: Sanjaasuren Oyuun, Chair, Global Water Partnership; Bai-Mass Taal, former Executive Secretary, African Ministers Council on Water (AMCOW); Cecilia Scharp, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF); Lesha Witmert, Women for Water Partnership; Roberto Lenton, University of Nebraska; and Zafar Adeel, Pacific Water Research Centre.
Participants expressed concern about the prospect of water scarcity in the future, and the fact that most of the world’s wastewater is still discharged untreated, posing a threat to human health. They called for policy coherence between local, national and regional water management approaches, and for capacity development to be provided for governments and regional organizations. They also discussed whether new institutions are needed, with some expressing reservations about whether the UN system is “up to the task.” Some delegates called for a detailed review of the UN system’s efforts on water to identify gaps, duplication and challenges to cooperation. While praising the work of UN-Water, some delegates found it “insufficient to meet current needs.” Some called for a dedicated intergovernmental platform on water, ‘World Water Roadmap’ and ‘World Water Fund’ to be established; others argued for improving the efficiency of coordination among existing arrangements.
At the second dialogue, the co-moderators’ summary of the first dialogue was discussed. The Permanent Representative of Jordan highlighted that water scarcity in her country had been exacerbated by the large influx of refugees in recent years. [Summary of First Working-Level Water Dialogue] [IISD RS Sources]

Laughlin Artz
Laughlin Artz

Hi Juan,

I am not sure I am clear on specifically what the nexus approach is, but my sense of it is that it is a framework in which different entities can collaborate toward a common goal.  So my comment will be written from that degree of understanding and if I'm off then I will be happy to amend.  2020 or Bust is about awakening, enabling and empowering individuals to end the climate crisis.  And we want to get to people who would not enter the conversation through the door of "climate change" or "UN" or "SDG."  So our approach is to go to them where there currently "live" which includes the world of gaming.  We have set up the 2020 or Bust app as a way of letting them play the game to end the climate crisis, but with the focus on the game, getting points, competing, being one of the "cool" kids, like that.  And in playing the game, they are in effect taking the actions that reduce their carbon footprints and can see their impact on the global footprint as well. So if I am on the right page, our merging the worlds of gaming and climate action would be an example of the nexus approach.

Thank you for your amazing work!