Abstract
The Southern African Development Community’s (SADC) water and energy sectors are under increasing pressure due to population growth and agricultural and industrial development. Climate change is also negatively impacting on the region’s water and energy resources. As the majority of SADC’s population lives in poverty, regional development and integration are underpinned by water and energy security as the watercourses in the region are transboundary in nature. This paper reviews the region’s water and energy resources and recommends policies based on the water–energy nexus approach. This is achieved by reviewing literature on water and energy resources as well as policy issues. Water resources governance provides a strong case to create a water–energy nexus platform to support regional planning and integration as SADC countries share similar climatic and hydrological conditions. However, there has been a gap between water and energy sector planning in terms of policy alignment and technical convergence. These challenges hinder national policies on delivering economic and social development goals, as well as constraining the regional goal of greater integration. Regional objectives on sustainable energy and access to clean water for all can only be achieved through the recognition of the water–energy nexus, championed in an integrated and sustainable manner. A coordinated regional water–energy nexus approach stimulates economic growth, alleviates poverty and reduces high unemployment rates. The shared nature of water and energy resources requires far more transboundary water–energy nexus studies to be done in the context of regional integration and policy formulation.
Highlights
The water–energy nexus describes the inextricable linkages between water and energy [1,2,3].Energy production requires water, either directly or indirectly [4,5]
We focus on the water–energy nexus in southern Africa, with particular emphasis on the Southern African Development Community (SADC), a regional economic body that brings together
There is an urgent need to identify water resources that can be used to meet increased demand for water from various sectors, including energy generation, across the region. These challenges will be exacerbated by climate change; there is a need to develop climate resilient water and energy sectors across the region, as well as promote climate smart agriculture
Summary
The water–energy nexus describes the inextricable linkages between water and energy [1,2,3]. As the natural occurrence of water and energy resources is not limited by political boundaries, there has been an increasingly prominent notion that integrated water–energy nexus approaches should be developed at the national level, and at the regional level [8,10]. In this regard, Siddiqi and Anadon [2] reviewed the water–energy nexus for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The sharing of water and energy infrastructure within the region implies that thestates region individual for the attainment of water and issues energyofsecurity, goal maywould be haspursue a greater need foragendas a water–energy nexus approach While national this sovereignty attainable when considered fromindividual a regional perspective. Dictate that member states pursue agendas for the attainment of water and energy security, this goal may be attainable when considered from a regional perspective
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