The German Federal Government is organizing the international “Bonn2011 Conference: The Water Energy and Food Security Nexus – Solutions for the Green Economy” to be held from 16 to 18 November. The conference has been announced by German Chancellor Angela Merkel as a specific German contribution to the UN Conference on Sustainable Development “Rio2012”.
Global Trends such as population growth and rising economic prosperity are expected to increase demand for energy, food and water which will compromise the sustainable use of natural resources. Besides positive effects, this pressure on resources could finally result in shortages which may put water, energy and food security for the people at risk, hamper economic development, lead to social and geopolitical tensions and cause lasting irreparable environmental damage.
The German Government has recognized a clear need for new approaches which address the interconnections within the water, energy and food security nexus. In order to develop these integrated solutions, the German Government initiated a yearlong participatory process including an international multi-stakeholder-dialogue to prepare the Bonn2011 Nexus Conference.
The Bonn2011 Nexus Conference will focus on the three action fields of sustainable development:
- The social dimension: Accelerating Access, integrating the bottom of the pyramid
- The economic dimension: Creating more with less
- The ecologic dimension: Investing to sustain ecosystem services
The international participants at this three-day conference will include around 500 high-ranking decision-makers and decision-shapers from the spheres of politics, academia, the United Nations, civil society and the private sector. The overall concept is designed to produce concrete outcomes in plenary sessions, workshops and cross-sectoral dialogue formats. The aim is to arrive at decisions that will make a real difference in terms of sustainable impacts.
For more information please visit: http://www.water-energy-food.org/en/bonn_2011_process.html