Integrated energy and water resource management project

Project title:

Integrated energy and water resource management in support of sustainable development in South-East Europe and Central Asia

Duration:

January 2018 – December 2021

Beneficiary countries:

Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan

Implementing entities:

UNECE, in cooperation with UN ESCAP

Project description:

Energy and water are integrally related and strongly interdependent, and core to facilitating sustainable development. This project aims to develop an integrated management and monitoring tool focused on interconnecting energy and water systems and helping to manage the impact of energy production on water systems. More specifically, it will assist the beneficiary countries to identify and develop best practices and measures to apply a cross-cutting approach to energy and water resource management.

The four beneficiary countries of this project in South-East Europe and Central Asia all have large hydroenergy potential, which could be improved and enriched by improved awareness about water-energy intersectoral links and impacts. The project will bring together the UNECE’s internationally applicable framework for the classification, management and reporting of energy and mineral reserves and resources – the United Nations Framework Classification for Resources (UNFC), and accumulated experience on the water-energy-food nexus within the framework of the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention).

The key stakeholders will be policymakers responsible for development of national policies on energy and water resources, and private sector entities, which should play an active role in investments to employ advanced technologies with all related benefits.

The project further seeks to help UNECE member States with economies in transition to identify best practices, measures and procedures relevant to sustainable energy transition with a particular focus on the cross-cutting nature of energy and water resources management applicable nationally. The beneficiary countries do not yet have the necessary policy and regulatory infrastructure to enable progress on these fronts. The project will therefore assist development of national policies for integrated energy and water resources management in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. This project also directly links to UNECE’s efforts to support its member States in the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals 6 and 7.

Objectives:

The objectives of the project will be pursued by achieving the following results:

• Improved national capacities for collection of consistent, coherent and reliable data related to energy and water resources management
• Strengthened national capacities to develop evidence-based policies and strategies for integrated management of water and energy resources

Project activities:

The activities of the project will include:

• Assessment of existing gaps in data collection related to water and energy resources management and monitoring in the project countries
• Development of guidance or training materials on data collection related to energy and water management and monitoring
• National trainings on data collection related to sustainable energy and water resources management and monitoring and UNFC application as tool for policy and strategic decision-making
• Advisory missions to support the beneficiary countries in establishing and maintaining energy and water management and monitoring through UNFC application
• Case studies on the experience of policy development or application on existing energy and water resources management practices and monitoring
• Workshop to share case studies and best practices for energy and water resources management appropriate to national circumstances and to apply appropriate integrated management and monitoring tools interconnecting energy and water systems
• Development of policy recommendations for integrated energy and water resources management, applicable nationally, taking into account the particularities of the countries, and recommendations related to transboundary aspects
• End of project workshop to present, discuss and validate the policy recommendations for sustainable energy and water resources management for each beneficiary country and disseminate the project results to other countries in Central Asia and South Eastern Europe