Broadened Focus the Challenge of Berlin Water Initiative

Wednesday, 18 January 2012

From 20-21 January 2012, the second Berlin Water Dialogues will be held in the city’s fairgrounds. It will be an extension of the Bonn2011 Nexus conference held last November, convened by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Co-operation and Development, which focussed on integrated solutions ‘for the Green Economy’. To go one step further, the Dialogues aim to approach the twin challenges of water and food security from different angles, with a host of international representatives taking part.

Background

From 20-21 January 2012, the second Berlin Water Dialogues will be held in the city’s fairgrounds. It will be an extension of the Bonn2011 Nexus conference held last November, convened by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Co-operation and Development, which focussed on integrated solutions ‘for the Green Economy’. To go one step further, the Dialogues aim to approach the twin challenges of water and food security from different angles, with a host of international representatives taking part.

Comment

Coinciding with International Green Week Berlin, the world’s largest fair for agriculture, food and horticulture, and the launch of the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture, a global political platform for agricultural policymakers, the second Berlin Water Dialogues are poised to act as yet another signpost on the path to the United Nations’ Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development in June 2012. Attempting to garner political will for the cause of what has been called the “green economy”, is not an unusual pursuit. The unique aspect of these conferences is their recognition of a need for interconnected solutions in challenges arising between and amongst the water, climate and food sectors. This is an overdue framing of the continuing debate.

When it was held in November, Bonn2011 came under criticism from certain quarters, including the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, for the high percentage of private sector representatives involved in the conference. At the heart of this concern is the precedent it set in downplaying the importance of government responsibility and corporate accountability in future debates. The other criticism was over a perceived lack of Southern Hemisphere participants. The Berlin Water Dialogues will seek to tackle this issue, however, with a focus on including experts from across the world.

Resource efficiency – the business of doing more with less – will probably be the major thrust of discussion once more, with impressive panels expected on topics such as genetically modified crops and nanotechnology. But if the rallying cry of Bonn2011 was ‘putting people and their basic human rights at the centre of the nexus’, then doing so would mean looking closely at the oft-ignored impact of food distribution, particularly in the developing world. As noted in the Future Directions International publication, An Overview of Global Food Loss and Waste, published in November 2011, this impact cannot be overlooked, as almost a third of the food produced globally for human consumption is either lost or wasted.

Hopefully, a broader approach in Berlin will dispel any lingering issues from Bonn2011. Identifying constructive ways in which tangible solutions can be applied to managing a green economy future, is a crucial task. Obtaining such outcomes from Rio+20 will depend on how effectively those solutions can be crafted.

Tim Thomas

Future Directions International Research Intern

Global Food and Water Crises Research Programme

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