International Bioenergy and Water Workshop UNEP: Bioenergy and Water: Developing strategic priorities for sustainable outcomes

Organized by: IEA Bioenergy TASK 43, IINAS, UNEP and Winrock

Paris, France, February 20-21, 2014

Workshop presentations: please click

Summary: This workshop was organized by IEA Bioenergy Task 43, IINAS, UNEP and Winrock International. It was the 5th event arranged in collaboration with different organizations exploring the inter-linkages between bioenergy and water and ways to address related risks and harness opportunities, and builds on the workshop “Spotlight on Energy and Water” organized by the Task together with Oeko Institute and UNEP in July 2010.

Since the 2010 workshop, several organisations have undertaken related work and some gaps identified at the first workshop have been closed, but others remain. The 2014 workshop was organized to develop a co-ordinated and common approach to addressing and communicating water-related issues for bioenergy. The common vision derived at the workshop is good management of resources – benefiting from complementarity of different systems -can provide food, bioenergy and biomaterials AND improve the state of water. The workshop specifically explored how integration of bioenergy systems into forest and agricultural landscapes can deliver positive outcomes for environment and socio-economy.

The workshop drilled deeper into assessment, policy and implementation issues, as well as data gaps. The participants identified strategic priorities to enable the benefits of bioenergy to be captured and delivered. A set of common goals was agreed and possible contributions from the represented organizations were identified. Based on this, a work plan and a group communication strategy will be developed.