DATE / TIME:

2014•03•21    09:30 - 16:45

Location:

Tokyo

Water and energy are fundamentally interlinked. With most forms of energy production heavily reliant on water — particularly hydroelectric, nuclear, and thermal energy — and about eight percent of global energy generation dedicated to water services such as pumping, transport and treatment, it is crucial to focus on water-energy connections in order to overcome social and environmental inequities while sustainably meeting economic and industrial demands.

This year for World Water Day, the UN System — working closely with its Member States and other relevant stakeholders — will recognize the water-energy nexus, particularly highlighting the needs of the ‘bottom billion’ of the world’s population who are without access to clean drinking water, proper sanitation, and adequate food and energy services.

World Water Day 2014 will give particular attention to advocating cross-cutting policy frameworks that link the public and private sectors to promote best practices for water- and energy-efficient ‘Green Industry’, leading the way to a green economy built on energy security and sustainable water management.

World Water Day Main Events in Tokyo

UNU and UNIDO, on behalf of UN-Water, are co-organizing the main World Water Day events which will take place at UNU Headquarters in Tokyo. Two days of events on 20 and 21 March will focus on advancing the objectives of World Water Day 2014 including:

• Raising awareness of the inter-linkages between water and energy
• Contributing to a policy dialogue that focuses on the broad range of issues related to the nexus of water and energy
• Demonstrating, through case studies, to decision makers in the energy sector and the water domain that integrated approaches and solutions to water-energy issues can achieve greater economic and social impacts
• Identifying policy formulation and capacity development issues in which the UN system, in particular UN-Water and UN-Energy, can offer significant contributions
• Identifying key stakeholders in the water-energy nexus and actively engaging them in further developing the water-energy linkages
• Contributing as relevant to the post-2015 discussions in relation to the water-energy nexus

Registration

UPDATE: Registration is now closed. For security reasons, unregistered participants cannot be accommodated at the events. However, the World Water Day Technology Exhibition and Photographic Exhibition (20–21 March) are free and open to the public and do not require advance registration.

17:45–18:00 Opening of Technology and Photographic Exhibition

UNU Headquarters Lobby (2F)

(in cooperation with: Asahi Group Holdings, Ltd.; Ebara Corporation; and TOTO Ltd.)

Welcome Remarks:

• Michel Jarraud, Chair, UN-Water
• Kazuhiko Takemoto, Director, UNU-IAS
• Zafar Adeel, Director, UNU-INWEH

Friday, 21 March 2014

On 21 March there will be a full-day event including expert dialogues, a high-level policy panel and the launch of the 2014 World Water Development Report — a comprehensive review of the state of the world’s freshwater resources, this year focusing on the potential water-related constraints, challenges and opportunities related to energy production.

The event will also feature two award ceremonies: the UN-Water “Water for Life” Best Practices Award, acknowledging outstanding efforts to promote long-term sustainable management of water resources; and the Stockholm Water Prize, the world’s most prominent water award, honouring individuals or organizations whose work contributes broadly to the conservation and protection of water resources and to improved well-being of the planet’s inhabitants and ecosystems.

Provisional Programme (21 March)

(For updated main event details see the World Water Day website.)

09:30–10:00  Opening Remarks

10:00–10:20  Artistic Event

• Eriko Takemoto (Contralto)
• Kei Mashima (Piano)

(In cooperation with: Kawai Musical Instruments Manufacturing Co., Ltd.)

10:20–10:50  Water for Life Award Presentation

• Michel Jarraud, Chair, UN-Water, and Secretary-General, WMO
• Josefina Maestu, Coordinator and Director, UNW-DPAC
• Seishi Kohyama, Mayor of Kumamoto City, Japan
• Miguel Ángel Navarro Portera, Ambassador of Spain to Japan
• Zafar Adeel, Director, UNU-INWEH

10:50–12:00  Launch of World Water Development Report

• Master of Ceremony: Blanca E. Jimenez Cisneros, Director, Division of Water Sciences, and Secretary, International Hydrological Programme, UNESCO
• Michela Miletto, Acting Coordinator of the UN World Water Assessment Programme
• Michel Jarraud, Chair, UN-Water, and Secretary-General, WMO
• Hans D’Orville, Assistant Director-General, UNESCO
• Taizo Nishikawa, Deputy to the Director-General, UNIDO
• Kazuhiko Takemoto, Director, UNU-IAS
• Yoshiaki Morikita, Director-General, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan

12:00–13:30  Lunch Break and Side Events (boxed lunch provided)

12:15-13:00 Elizabeth Rose Hall (5F)

Launch of ‘Towards 2020′, The Global Water Partnership’s 2014-2019 Strategy (Organized by Global Water Partnership)

Moderator: Ania Grobicki, GWP Executive Secretary

• Ursula Schaefer-Preuss, GWP Chair
• Kenzo Hiroki, GWP Vice-Chair
• Khin-Ni-Ni Thein, GWP Myanmar

12:15-13:00 Reception Hall (2F)

Country Experiences on Water and Energy: Some findings of the World Water Development Report 2014 (Organized by UNESCO)

• Michela Miletto, WWAP: Welcome
• Engin Koncagül, WWAP: Setting the Stage
• Thomas Chiramba, UNEP: Environmental Sustainability at the Core of Water-Energy Nexus
• Jong Jeong Lee, K-Water Institute, Korea: The Water-Energy Nexus in Korea’s Four Major Rivers
• Bijon Kumer Mitra, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, Japan: Recent improvements in currently unsustainable use of water resources in thermal energy generation in India
• Kuniyoshi Takeuchi, International Centre for Water Hazard, Japan: Water and energy issues in Japan with a regional perspective

Presentations to be followed by a question and answer session

12:15-13:00 Committee Room 3 (5F)

Addressing the Water-Energy Nexus: The Role and Sustainability of Hydropower from Freshwater Reservoirs (Organized by UNU-FLORES, International Hydropower Association, and UN-Water Decade Programme on Capacity Development)

• UN-Water Decade Programme on Capacity Development)
• Reza Ardakanian, Director, UNU-FLORES: Addressing the water-energy nexus in managing multi-purpose reservoirs
• Richard Taylor, Executive Director, IHA: The Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol
• Jens Liebe, UNW-DPC: The role of multi-stakeholder capacity development in the water-energy nexus

Presentations to be followed by Panel Discussion

Moderator: Mathew Kurian, UNU-FLORES

U Thant International Conference Hall (3F)

13:30–14:10 Keynote Speech