The Water, Energy, Land-use Nexus programme in Central Asia and the Green Central Asia programme facilitated active discussion on how to enhance cooperation between the water and energy sectors across the region.
The meeting convened over 70 participants from Central Asian line ministries, regional institutions, UN agencies, and international development partners. Participants actively discussed various topics related to water-energy coordination, including evidence collection and capacity strengthening. Particular discussion points were the development of regional water and energy models, environmental integrity of water and energy cooperation, and implications of Afghanistan for resource management in Central Asia.
Key messages from the event:
- Modelling work continues to be an important focus area, given the need to strengthen regional hydrological, energy and economic models.
- Environmental sustainability consideration should become an integral part of water-energy coordination discussions, in addition to economic benefit
- Digitalisation of water resource management, as well as automated monitoring systems is an area of interest, necessitating further cooperation between Central Asian countries and development partners
- Afghanistan’s influence on Central Asia’s water-energy nexus continues to be a challenge, however, some practical entry points for joint actions can be identified and developed
Further information about this event can be found here.