African Union

Highlights for Tuesday, 15 October 2019 Budapest-based modern circus company, Recirquel, opened BWS 2019 with a mesmerizing water-themed performance. The third Budapest Water Summit opened in Budapest, Hungary on Tuesday to a mesmerizing water-themed dance performance by the Budapest-based and world-renowned modern circus company, Recirquel.Hungarian President János Áder gave opening remarks. He stressed that technologies are needed to mitigate and adapt to emerging water crises. Among the country’s successes, he noted Hungary has built over 4,200 kilometers of dykes, as well as water reservoirs to manage floods, and its investments in water quality mean that “rivers leaving our country are cleaner than when they arrive.”Samdech Hun Sen, Cambodian Prime Minister, discussed joint approaches and implementation mechanisms to promote cooperation and water security at regional and global levels.Via video message, UN Secretary-General, António Guterres expressed support to the Summit’s objective, noting that water is critical to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, and pointed to the UN’s commitment to pursue the human right to water. UN-Water Chair and International Fund for Agricultural Development President, Gilbert Houngbo, stressed the need for new political momentum and a transformational shift in how we value water.Jin Liqun, President, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), said water disasters cost the Asian economy US$360 billion per year, and reported that AIIB is developing a water strategy to guide the investment sector.Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Drinking Water and Sanitation, India, reported that water security is at the center of India’s development agenda, and underlined efforts to decentralize water governance and a campaign to “make water everyone’s business.”In the morning and afternoon, participants attended three sessions that brought together ministers and high-level representatives from Ghana, Jordan, Slovakia, the Netherlands, South Africa, and Slovenia as well as representatives of the EU and African Union (AU), multilateral development banks, the World Bank Group, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat, UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), among others, to discuss water crises. During the sessions, participants heard keynotes followed by panel discussions on: Can Water Crises Be Prevented? Value of Water vs. Costs of a Water Crisis - Are we Talking About the Same? Water Crises - What is the Economically Rational Behavior? On crises prevention, discussions included: technology to improve efficiency, promoting water as a tool for peace, behavior change via education of youth, investment that builds resilience, tiered pricing systems, and transboundary water governance. On water valuation and costs of crises, panelists raised a number of topics, including: reducing water consumption, valuing water at the individual level, access to water as a human right, local water governance, unlocking funding for water investment, building synergies such as the water-energy-climate nexus, and multistakeholder initiatives to address pollution.On economically rational behavior in water crises, discussion focused on how to deal with complexities in policy processes and the financial sector, including: voluntary agreements, economic incentives and models for integrated water resources management, flood forecasting and early warning systems, and risk assessments.A series of side events took place in parallel with the Summit. In the evening, participants attended a cultural programme and reception at the Palace of the Arts. IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB+ meeting coverage, provided daily digital coverage and daily reports from BWS 2019. In addition, IISD Reporting Services, has published a summary report in HTML and PDF. Photos by IISD/ENB | Diego Noguera For photo reprint permissions, please follow instructions at our Attribution Regulations for Meeting Photo Usage Page Inauguration Session Zsófia Tomaj, Master of Ceremonies János Áder, President of Hungary António Guterres, UN Secretary-General, addressed participants via a video message. Gilbert Houngbo, UN-Water Chair and IFAD President Samdech Hun Sen, Prime Minister, Cambodia Jin Liqun, AIIB President Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Drinking Water and Sanitation, India Press Conference János Áder, President of Hungary, and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Drinking Water and Sanitation, India, addressing a press conference following the opening of the Summit. The media at BWS 2019 Session 1 - Can Water Crises Be Prevented? L-R: Moderator Bai-Mass Taal, Former Executive Secretary, African Ministers’ Council on Water; Raed Abu Al-Saud, Minister of Water and Irrigation, Jordan; Norbert Kurilla, Ministry of Environment, Slovak; Youssef Filali-Meknassi, UNESCO; Li Yong, UNIDO Director General; Rodolfo Lacy, OECD; and Cecilia Abena Dapaah, Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Ghana Moderator Bai-Mass Taal, Former Executive Secretary, African Ministers’ Council on Water Raed Abu Al-Saud, Minister of Water and Irrigation, Jordan Session 2: Value of Water vs. Costs of a Water Crisis – Are We Talking About the Same? L-R: Lindiwe Sisulu, Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation, South Africa; Ahmat Awad Sakine, Permanent Representative of the AU to the EU; Pio Wennubst, Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), IFAD and the World Food Programme (WFP); Frank Rijsberman, Director General, Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI); Moderator Aaron Salzberg, Director, Water Institute, University of North Carolina; Olcay Ünver, Vice Chair, UN-Water; Elisabeth van Duin, Director, Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, the Netherlands; and Rochi Khemka, 2030 Water Resources Group Lindiwe Sisulu, Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation, South Africa Ahmat Awad Sakine, Permanent Representative of the AU to the EU Session 3: Water Crises – What is the Economically Rational Behaviour? L-R: Martin Frick, Senior Director, Policy and Programme Coordination, UNFCCC Secretariat; Jennifer Sara, Global Director, Water Global Practice, World Bank Group; Simon Zajc, Minister of the Environment and Spatial Planning, Slovenia; Monika Weber-Fahr, Executive Secretary, Global Water Partnership (GWP); Joseph Siaw Agyepong, Executive Chairman, The Jospong Group; Ciarán Ó Cuinn, Director, Middle East Desalination Research Center; Karine Méasson, Head of Water Management Division, European Investment Bank (EIB); and Moderator María Concepción Donoso, Institute for Water and Environment, Florida International University, and Member of the International Programme and Drafting Committee of BWS 2019 Martin Frick, Senior Director, Policy and Programme Coordination, UNFCCC Secretariat Jennifer Sara, Global Director, Water Global Practice, World Bank Group Around the Venue

Moderator Kandeh Yumkella, Rapporteur Clean Cooking, Energy and Health, cautions that the international community has not moved the needle on clean cooking, “which is the silent tsunami killing more people than HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis combined.” Highlights The World Bank launched the Clean Cooking Fund and both Netherlands and Denmark have already announced contributions to the fund and Norway and UK also pledged their support. The World Health Organization (WHO), DESA, UN Development Programme (UNDP), and the World Bank launched the Health and Energy Platform of Action (HEPA), aimed at helping countries strengthen political and technical cooperation between the health and energy sectors. Participants proposed a High-Level Coalition of Leaders for Clean Cooking, Energy and Health, to be supported by HEPA in collaboration with governments and stakeholders, to launch in conjunction with the African Union Summit in January 2020. The high-level event on the energy transition track of the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Action Summit highlighted new financial commitments from the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, and France; the establishment of a USD 500 million Clean Cooking Fund by the World Bank; and stories from recipient countries, donors, and organizations. Session 1: Energy Fueling DevelopmentRasmus Prehn, Minister for Development Cooperation, Denmark, opened the session by highlighting the need for public-private collaboration to support the energy transition. He said that Denmark will reduce its CO2 emissions by 70% by 2030 and will become carbon neutral by 2050. He also announced that Denmark will double its contribution to the Energy Sector Management Assistance Programme (ESMAP) of the World Bank, with a focus on clean cooking.Fekadu Beyene, Commissioner, Environment, Forest, and Climate Change Commission, Ethiopia, highlighted the role of the energy transition track within the Secretary-General’s Climate Action Summit in promoting and accelerating the transition to low-carbon, climate-resilient economies.Rachel Kyte, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All and CEO SEforALL, emphasized that “the price of leadership has gone up,” due to the growing movement of increasingly environmentally-conscious youth. Given that the politicians will in the future come to depend on votes from today’s young people, she said political leaders will have to do more to tackle climate change.Patricia Fuller, Canada’s Ambassador for Climate Change, said that intermittency presents a challenge for scaling up renewable energy, as the wind, for example, does not always blow and the sun does not always shine. Noting that many governments would like to set more ambitious renewable energy targets, she underscored the need for more investment in energy storage to address the intermittency challenge. Catherine Bremner, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), UK, said that scaling up renewables at an accelerated rate “will be key” if the SDGs and the Paris Agreement are to be achieved. Adding that energy storage is an essential enabler for energy transition and scaling up, including through replacing diesel engines with batteries, she expressed UK’s support for the World Bank’s Battery Storage program.Jens Frolich Holte, State Secretary, Norway, emphasized the potential of hydropower energy, and thus of water storage as energy storage. Noting that Norway would like to make storage “the most disruptive technology” in the energy sector, he announced that the government will scale up its support to ESMAP and contribute to the World Bank’s newly launched Clean Cooking Fund.Hussain Rasheed Hassan, Minister of Environment, Maldives, announced plans to increase the share of renewables in the country’s energy mix from 6% to 70% by 2030, even though that is not currently Maldives’ nationally determined contribution (NDC) target. He also released the Executive Summary of the report, the “Energy Storage Roadmap for the Maldives”.Ingolf Dietrich, Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Germany, welcomed the World Bank’s Energy Storage Partnership and said Germany is currently considering increasing its financial support to the initiative.Jan-Willem van de Ven, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), presented on the Bank’s support to countries for low-carbon development pathways and announced an event on energy storage on 5 November 2019, to take place in London, UK. Mechthild Worsdorfer, Director, International Energy Agency (IEA), announced the launch of a new IEA report on 21 September that shows that there will be a nearly 12% growth in renewables in 2019. In order to achieve the energy transition needed by 2030, she underscored the need to upscale battery use by 40 times current rates.R.P. Gupta, Additional Secretary, Niti Aayog, India, said the share of renewable energy in India’s electricity mix is set to increase to 53% by 2030 and highlighted the need for concessional financing to enable India’s transition to renewables. Brigitte Collet, Ambassador for Climate Negotiations, France, announced that France will commit EUR 50 million for a partnership with the EU Regional Facility for Development in Transition, which will allow the financing of projects in Africa through the African Trade Insurance Agency, and could mobilize an additional EUR 3 billion in investments. Kitty van der Heijden, Vice-Minister for International Cooperation, Netherlands, announced a USD 40 million donation to the World Bank’s Solar Risk Mitigation Initiative and USD 20 million to the World Bank’s Clean Cooking Fund.Francesco la Camera, Director General, International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), highlighted the need for risk mitigation to promote increased investments in renewable energy at the institutional, transactional, and project levels, including through instituting policies conducive to attracting investment from the private sector.Aparna Subramani, representing the International Solar Alliance (ISA), said that the Alliance has 79 signatory countries, has supported 73 countries in developing their solar energy roadmaps, and will support South-South partnerships. Mustapha Bakkoury, Chairman of the board, Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy (MASEN), underscored the need for a long term vision for the energy sector. Liang Xuming, GEIDCO, called for establishing multi-stakeholder platforms at the UN level to promote Africa’s energy development and coordinating mechanisms for clean energy projects.Session 2: Energy Fueling People Clean Cooking, Energy and HealthKandeh Yumkella, Rapporteur, Clean Cooking, Energy and Health, said the international community has done well on electrification but has not moved the needle on clean cooking, “which is the silent tsunami killing more people than HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis combined.”Filippo Grandi, High Commissioner, UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), noted that the vast majority of world’s 71 million refugees and displaced people do not have access to sustainable and clean cooking. Approximately 85% of refugees only have access to firewood, he said, which has health and gender violence risks for the women who go to gather the wood. He called for providing refugees with access to clean cooking. Zhenmin Liu, UN Under-Secretary-General, the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), welcomed the World Bank’s proposed Clean Cooking Fund; highlighted DESA’s partnership with WHO, UNDP and the World Bank in the creation HEPA; and expressed strong support for the proposed High-Level Coalition of Leaders for Clean Cooking, Energy and Health to address the clean cooking access gap. Samira Ramadan Bawumia, Second Lady of Ghana, emphasized that the lack of clean cooking is a problem that affects mostly Africa and South Asia and called for supporting developing countries’ access to clean cooking facilities. Amina Moumouni, Minister of Energy, Niger, highlighted that the lack of access to affordable energy solutions has important health and environmental risks as people rely on firewood, which causes deforestation and thus worsens the country’s resilience to climate change.Irene Margaret Nafuna-Muloni, Minister of Energy, Uganda, presented national programs to advance the use of biogas and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), thanking the World Bank for its support in advancing clean cooking. Matthew Nkhuwa, Minister for Energy and Water Development, Zambia, highlighted that Zambia needs USD 3.5 million for the development of biogas projects that promote clean cooking. Naoko Yamamoto, Assistant Director General, WHO, announced the establishment of HEPA together with UNDP, DESA, and World Bank.Mourad Wahba, Associate Administrator, UNDP, noted that the international community has now “the right confluence of factors” to promote clean cooking: the need on the ground; support from multilateral development banks; political leadership; and a mandate from the UN.Dymphna Van Der Lans, CEO, Clean Cooking Alliance, highlighted that the World Bank’s Clean Cooking Fund will need to disperse the money to those businesses that can scale.Edwin Huizing, Executive Director, HIVOS, emphasized that realizing universal access to clean cooking will reduce CO2 emissions by 1 gigaton per year.Sheila Oparaocha, International Coordinator, Energia, called for gender approaches to be integrated into financing programs for clean cooking. Kimball Chen, Chairman, Global LPG Partnership, said “the evidence is clear” that LPG is an urgent solution to indoor air pollution, gender inequality, and deforestation. Helena Valdes, Head, Climate and Clean Air Coalition, said that black carbon is the hottest particulate matter element and thus relates not only to clean cooking but also to achieving SDG 13 (climate change). She said that some financing for combating climate change could also be used to promote clean cooking and added that the international community could reduce global warming by 0.5 C by addressing the issue of household energy and clean cooking. Ed Brown, Coordinator, Modern Energy Cooking Services (MECS) Program, called for investing both in new green technologies, but also in the public sector and in the companies that need support to adopt these new technologies. Moderator Yumkella summarized some of the key points participants raised during the event, including: Stressing that global energy transformation must be accelerated to achieve both the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on climate change, recognizing that the world is currently not on track to meet the SDGs including SDG 7 (on energy) or to keep global temperature rise this century below 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels; Expressing “the deepest concern” that 3 billion people still lack access to clean cooking solutions; Calling upon all governments to make clean cooking solutions a top political priority and put in place specific policies, cross-sectoral plans, and public investments to catalyze much larger amounts of private financing; and Emphasizing the need for all stakeholders including businesses, civil society, women, and youth, to promote innovation, capacity building, knowledge sharing, South-South cooperation, and monitoring. IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB+ meeting coverage, provided web coverage from the Energy Transition Track High-Level Event. Photos by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) Rachel Kyte, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All and CEO SEforALL, highlights that “the price of leadership has gone up,” as the growing youth movement shows that young people are increasingly environmentally-conscious and thus decision-makers will need to act on their demands to gain their votes. Brigitte Collet, Ambassador for Climate Negotiations, France, announces that France will commit EUR 50 million for a partnership with the EU Regional Facility for Development in Transition, which will allow the financing of projects in Africa through the African Trade Insurance Agency. Riccardo Puliti, Global Director Energy and Extractive Industries Global Practice, World Bank, highlights the role of the energy transition track within the Secretary-General’s Climate Action Summit in catalyzing partnerships for accelerating the transition to low-carbon economies. Jens Frolich Holte, State Secretary, Norway, announces that the Norway will scale up its support to ESMAP and contribute to the World Bank’s newly launched Clean Cooking Fund. Amina Moumouni, Minister of Energy, Niger, cautions that the lack of access to affordable energy solutions, and thus the reliance on firewood, causes deforestation and worsens the country’s resilience to climate change. View of the room CONTACT Minoru Takada | takada@un.org MORE INFORMATION https://indd.adobe.com/view/46533ac9-32e4-44b0-a8e9-4302e1f4babe

Highlights for Monday, 9 September 2019  Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomes participants to the UNCCD COP 14 On Monday morning, the opening ceremony of the two-day High-Level Segment of 14th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 14) took place with addresses by UN leaders and Heads of State, and special statements by ministers representing regional groups.Prakash Javadekar, Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, India, and COP 14 President, pledged India’s commitment to use its COP Presidency to reverse the negative contribution of human activities to land degradation. Ibrahim Thiaw, UNCCD Executive Secretary, reminded delegates of the common goal of ensuring a safe, prosperous and equitable society for every child born today. Amina Mohammed, UN Deputy Secretary-General, gave special recognition to young people and called for solutions that “let people thrive, not just survive.”India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, reaffirmed his commitment to the goals of the Rio Conventions and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and announced his government’s support for enhanced South-South Cooperation and a “Global Water Action Agenda,” to maximize synergies through holistic land and water management. Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, stressed that science has “definitively detailed” the extent of the existential threat facing humanity, but "our collective response has not lived up to the task."In the afternoon, three ministerial roundtables convened, addressing: land, climate and renewable energy; rural and urban communities – “failing or flourishing together”; and fostering a global movement for ecosystem restoration. In parallel with the roundtable sessions, contact groups continued negotiations on draft decision texts, addressing matters relating to the budget, as well as the policy advocacy frameworks.Other events of the day included a dialogue with UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner addressing linkages between climate change and human development, a breakfast meeting on the Great Green Wall for the Sahel initiative, and a high-level luncheon on the Climate Action Summit.For more details on the day’s negotiations and to hear what delegates said in the corridors, see our daily Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB). IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB meeting coverage, is providing daily web coverage and daily reports from UNCCD COP 14. In addition, IISD Reporting Services will publish a summary and analyrs report from this session on Monday, 16 September 2019. Photos by IISD/ENB | Ángeles Estrada For photo reprint permissions, please follow instructions at our Attribution Regulations for Meeting Photo Usage Page Opening Ceremony of the High-Level Segment Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives at the venue accompanied by Prakash Javadekar, Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, India (left) and UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw. Narendra Modi, Prime Minister, India COP 14 President, Prakash Javadekar UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary, UNCCD; Babul Supriyo, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, India; Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; and Narendra Modi, Prime Minister, India Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary, UNCCD; Babul Supriyo; Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, India; Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Narendra Modi, Prime Minister, India, COP 14 President; Prakash Javadekar,  Ministry of Environment, India, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed; and Chandra Kishore Mishra, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, India Participants during the High-Level Segment Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary, UNCCD COP 14 President, Prakash Javadekar, Ministry of Environment, India, and UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Narendra Modi, Prime Minister, India Participants during the High-Level Segment Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, India Baaba Mal, Senegal, performing at the opening ceremony High-Level Breakfast on the Great Green Wall for the Sahel Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary, UNCCD UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed; Babul Supriyo, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, India, and Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary, UNCCD Baaba Mal, Senegal Naoko Ishii, CEO and Chairperson, Global Environment Facility (GEF) UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, and Babul Supriyo, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, India Ricky Kej, India Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, Chad Josefa Leonel Correia Sacko, African Union Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture View of the high-level breakfast on the Great Green Wall for the Sahel Achim Steiner, Administrator, UN Development Programme (UNDP) Jigmet Takpa, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, India Yannick Glemarec, Executive Director, Green Climate Fund Inger Andersen, Executive Director, UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Land, Climate and Renewable Energy View of the room during the roundtable Achim Steiner, Administrator, UNDP; Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; and Guðmundur Ingi Guðbrandsson, Deputy Minister for the Environment and Natural Resources, Iceland Rural and Urban Communities – “Failing or Flourishing Together” View of the room during the roundtable discussion Naoko Ishii, CEO and Chairperson, GEF; Josefa Leonel Correia Sacko, African Union Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture; and Almoustapha Garba, Minister of Environment, Urban Safety and Sustainable Development, Niger Fostering a Global Movement for Ecosystem Restoration Inger Andersen, Executive Director, UNEP (middle) Participants at the roundtable discussion High-Level Luncheon on the Climate Action Summit Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary, UNCCD; UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed; and COP 14 President, Prakash Javadekar, Ministry of Environment, India Joint Press Conference COP 14 President, Prakash Javadekar,  Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, India Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary, UNCCD, and UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed Media during press conference Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary, UNCCD, and UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed A participant posing a question during the press conference Wagaki Wischnewski, UNCCD Secretariat Reception