Sustainable and Resilient Water and Energy Futures: From New Ethics and Choices to Urban Nexus Strategies

A safe, secure and affordable water future—for life, health, economy—are foundational outcomes from a new form of ethics for water stewardship and energy management. Current business as usual in water and energy systems have not led to sustainable, healthy nor resilient pathways for urban and rural communities alike. Today, an esti mated 400 million people live in cities with significant water shortages. This is while 25% of water is currently lost before even used in urban areas (up to 60% in some cities) due to aging infrastructure. In addition, on average, only 10% of wastewater is treated before returning to water bodies in developing countries. By 2040, more than 66% of the world’s populations could suffer from severe water shortages; and by 2050, an 80% increase in urban water demand (over current levels) may result in one billion city dwellers and 36% (one in three) of cities expected to face water crises. A crisis is often a catalyst for innovation and this chapter is a call to cities to enable strategic responses—moving away from legacy ‘siloed’ infrastructures, over-allocated water resources and emerging ethical dilemmas to integrated water- and energy-related urban nexus strategies. century, with both differences and similarities between cities. Proactive strategies and integrated responses focused on the growing number of cities at risk as frontlines for innova tion may continue to emerge. These examples also motivate questions for ongoing exploring of long-term impacts, using data to generate understanding on how best to help reduce costs, improve water security, modernize infrastructure assets, build resilience and ensure sustain able revenue models.