Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
(disaggregated by gender, age or ethnicity) of the impact that scienti
c experiments
to reverse soil erosion, water scarcity and water quality will have on local
populations.
4.1 Data Gaps Identi
ed by the Bonn Conference
The Bonn conference held in November 2011 pointed out
integrated planning
across the nexus, involving also city and spatial planning, environmental protection
and forestry, can unlock signi
'
. The subsequent Rio+20
Conference emphasized the importance of adopting a nexus approach to land, water
and waste management. The background paper prepared for the Bonn conference
reviewed a number of case studies to conclude that while there are no blueprints or
panaceas there are some underlying principles that can guide implementation of the
nexus approach (Hoff
2011
). For instance, cross-sectoral management can minimize
trade-offs, build synergies and increase resource use ef
cant ef
ciency gains
'
ciency. In particular, in
multi-use systems, wastes, residues and by-products can be turned into a resource for
other products and services and co-bene
ts can be produced. Productive sanitation in
combination with wastewater reuse is an example of recycling and closing loops of
water, nutrients and other resources. Other examples include multifunctional and
green agriculture, natural or constructed wetlands, agro-forestry, crop-livestock
systems, land rehabilitation with biofuel crops such as jatropha, and wastewater-
energy integration. Reusing waste products instead of discharging them into the
environment can also reduce clean-up costs. The background paper prepared in the
run-up to the Bonn Conference highlighted the following knowledge gaps of rele-
vance to the work programme of UNU-FLORES (Kurian and Ardakanian
2014
).
1. There is a lack of consistent and agreed upon water quality standards for dif-
ferent crops and production systems, which would standardize and promote
wastewater reuse and hence increase water use ef
ciency.
2. More data are needed on sustainably available water resources, in particular on
safe aquifer yields and for so-called
'
economically water scarce
'
regions, such
as sub-Saharan Africa.
3. There are scarce data on consumptive water use in the energy sector, compared
to withdrawal data.
4. The effects of increasing energy or water scarcity on food and water or energy
security, as well as potential synergies between land, water and energy man-
agement, are not well understood. Questions include to what extent can higher
availability of one resource sustainably reduce scarcity of another, and how
might this work at different spatial scales?
5. New nexus indicators/metrics, which address sustainable resource use, human
well-being and equity as well as integrated assessments of water, energy and
food sectors, are required for future quantitative trade-off analyses. System
thinking, robust analytical tools, including life cycle analysis and consistent data
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