H.E Dr Mohamed bin Saleh al-Sada, the Minister
of Energy and Industry led Qatar's delegation at the 7th World Water
Forum, along with H.E. Eng. Essa bin Hilal Al-Kuwari the President of Qatar
General Electricity & Water Corporation “KAHRAMAA” and the accompanying
delegation from KAHRAMAA and the Ministry of Environment. The forum
is held in South Korea from 12 - 17 April under the theme ‘'Water for Our
Future’’.
H.E. Al-Sada delivered a speech at the opening
session in his capacity as the current head of the Arab Ministerial Water
Council, underscored the importance of the link between water, energy and food,
pointing to the challenges facing the Arab countries, as well as to the
solutions, opportunities and practical applications to cope with climatic
changes in the water and agriculture sector.
Al-Sada said,” when we are talking of ”Water
for Our Future” we are actually talking of the future of ‘Water Security’. The
region I am coming from is most concerned about the future water security,
perhaps more than any other part of the world”.
In his speech, the Minister of Energy and
Industry highlighted that in the Arab region, addressing water scarcity is one
of the major and most critical challenges. The challenges are expected to grow
due to many pressing driving forces, including population growth, food demand,
shared water resources, climate change, and many others, forcing more countries
to look for more expensive water sources, such as desalination to augment their
limited fresh water supplies.
Al-Sada stressed that water conservation is an
issue of paramount importance to Qatar as well as we have one of the world’s
lowest levels of rainfall and highest rates of per capita consumption. “fresh
water in Qatar is scarce and most of the water used in homes and business comes
from sea and must pass through energy-intensive desalination plants. The Qatar
National development Strategy 201 – 2016 duly addresses this issue.” He
clarified.
H.E. Eng. Essa bin Hilal Al-Kuwari the
President of Qatar General Electricity & Water Corporation “KAHRAMAA”
delivered a speech on water and energy sustainable development. He highlighted
that water and energy are the main drives for the development and to maintain
sustainable economy and growth.
Al-Kuwari stressed that the SMART
implementation of the integrate water and energy resources management is the
wise approach for supporting the sustainable development.
“the water energy efficiency, conservation, and
the smart grid technologies are the main three pillars in the smart
implementation o the integrated water and energy resources management” he
emphasized.
“in the Arab region, water and energy are very
much related to each other. According to the International Energy Agency, the
water – energy nexus is a critical issues as water and energy are dynamic,
interdependent resources, water is required to facilitate almost al forms of
energy production,. Energy is likewise vital to provide fresh water for various
uses.” He clarified.
Every
three years, the World Water Forum mobilises creativity, innovation, and know-how
around water. Serving as a stepping-stone towards global collaboration on water
challenges, the forum is a unique multistake holder platform where the water
community and the policy and decision-makers from all regions of the world can
work together to find joint solutions. It is the largest international event
which seeks to advance the cause of water. The forum is held this year in
Daegu, Republic of Korea.