Report

The Role of Water in the Green Economy

By Henry David Venema, Richard Lawford, Henry David Venema, Richard Lawford on June 10, 2012

In May, 2012, IISD's Water Innovation Centre collaborated with the Global Water System Project to host a conference on the water, energy and food security nexus in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

The conference brought together more than 80 international experts, opinion leaders, policy-makers and scientists to discuss challenges and review ways to foster a sustainable approach to the development of energy and food resources through improved water management practices.

This document is an outcome of that conference, a statement highlighting the importance of water to the green economy and putting forward key messages related to the Rio +20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. These messages are:

  • The need to set water targets and use earth observations data for monitoring.

  • The need for innovative polycentric governance models to enable improved water, energy and food security.

  • The high potential of the emerging bioeconomy concept—the development of economies that use renewable resources as their main inputs for industry—to move societies towards water, energy and food security.

Report details

Topic
Water
Project
Water Innovation Centre
Focus area
Resources
Publisher
IISD and GWSP
Copyright
IISD and GWSP, 2012