S1 – Smart Solutions for Resource Security Hot Spots

With its global program for energy security and climate change, the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) from Germany addresses challenges and solutions in this field of political action.
At three "fish bowl" round tables, carried out simultaneously, we will focus on the following security hot spots:

1) 14% of the world population is expected to live in water-scarce areas and will be facing a major challenge of a widening gap in water supplies and demand by 2025. Unrest, instability and conflict can all be triggered or worsened by water scarcity. Environmental changes resulting from climate change and human activities threaten the entire Lake Chad Basin, the Lake itself and the natural resources and ecosystem services. How can politics at different levels address the interrelated problems of water security, food and health security, migration, displacement, conflict and governance?
 

2) The MENA region accounts for almost half of the world’s desalination capacity and is home to some of the largest desalination plants. Interest in and investment in desalination are expanding beyond this part of the world driven by price reductions due to the availability of renewable energies and more efficient technologies. As an approach to successfully reduce security risks linked to climate change and other environmental stresses, we want to discuss preliminary results of a regional study conducted in cooperation with MEDRC Water Research.

3) Global cities determine future development pathways. They are centres for trading, innovation etc. but they are also main sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Digitalisation and smart concepts provide unique opportunities for sustainable solutions. But this comes along with an increasing responsibility and vulnerability of cities which have so far been underestimated as hot spots for global security policy. How can the exchange of concepts and best practices between global cities be enhanced?
 

Photo Credit: Max Pixel