Photo credit: UN DESA and ITAIPU Binacional
Steering Committee
The Steering Committee is a high-level body that provides guidance on strategic direction for an effective implementation of the sustainable water and energy solutions partnership. Co-chaired by the Officer-in-Charge of the Division of the Sustainable Development Goals at UN DESA and the Director Generals of Itaipu Binacional, the Steering Committee brings together representatives from UN DESA, Itaipu Binacional, and other stakeholders/partners including governments, businesses, civil society and international organizations.
Steering Committee Members
Mr. Alexander Trepelkov
Officer-in-Charge, Division for Sustainable Development Goals, UNDESA
Mr. João Francisco Ferreira
Brazilian General Director, Itaipu Binacional
Mr. Manuel Maria Cáceres
Paraguayan General Director, Itaipu Binacional
Ms. Sheila Oparaocha
Executive Director, ENERGIA
Ms. Leena Srivastava
Vice Chancellor, TERI School of Advanced Studies
Mr. Richard Taylor
Executive Director, International Hydropower Association
Mr. Ricardo Andrade
Director, National Agency of Water in Brazil
Mr. Manuel Menéndez Prieto
General Director for Water, Ministry of Ecological Transition
H.E. Mrs. Estefanía Laterza
General Director for Multilateral Policy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Paraguay, and National Coordinator, SDG Commission, Paraguay
Dr. Angela Wilkinson
Secretary General and CEO, World Energy Council
Mr. Haitian Lu
Chief Capacity Development Office, UNDESA
Latest Activities
Steering Committee Meeting of the Sustainable Water and Energy Solutions Partnership, 21. 10. 2020
Virtual Conference | 21 October 2020
On 21 October 2020, the Steering Committee of the “Sustainable Water and Energy Solutions” partnership met for the fourth time, with full attendance of its members. The objective of the meeting was to review progress of the partnership to-date, discuss the implementation of the work plan for the remainder of the year 2020, present and gather ideas for the 2021 workplan, and discuss options to pave the way for sustained efforts beyond 2021, under the umbrella of the Global Sustainable Water and Energy Solutions Network. The meeting was jointly chaired by Mr. Alexander Trepelkov, Officer-in-Charge, Division for Sustainable Development Goals, DESA and the two Coordination Directors of Itaipu Binacional, Mr. Miguel Gómez (Paraguay) and Mr. Luiz Felipe Carbonell (Brazil), acting on the behalf of Itaipu´s Director-Generals and Co-Chairs of the Steering Committee, Mr. José Alberto Alderete and Mr. Joaquim Silva e Luna. At the meeting, Steering Committee members endorsed the 2021 workplan of the partnership and provided their insights and recommendations for the way forward.
Steering Committee Meeting, 15. 07. 2019
New York, NY, USA | 15 July 2019
On Monday 15 July, the Steering Committee (SC) of the of the "Sustainable Water and Energy Solutions" partnership, co- chaired by Mr. Alexander Trepelkov, Officer-in-Charge, Division for Sustainable Development Goals, DESA, and the two Director Generals of Itaipu Binacional, Mr. José Alberto Alderete and Mr. Joaquim Silva e Luna, met for the third time to review progress of the partnership to-date, discuss the implementation of the workplan for the remainder of 2019, and present and gather ideas for the workplan for 2020.
Side event "Scaling up climate action through integrated water and energy solutions: Delivering on the Paris Agreement and the SDGs"
UN City, Copenhagen | 1 April 2019
UNDESA and Itaipu Binacional, with support from the Government of Spain and ASAZGUA, in collaboration with "Sustainable Water and Energy Solutions" network members, co-organised a side event on "Scaling up climate action through integrated water and energy solutions: Delivering on the Paris Agreement and the SDGs". The event took place on 15 July at the Cervantes Institute in New York. Underscoring that "6+7=13", panelists highlighted the importance of SDG6 and SDG7 for climate action (SDG13), and called for strengthened global efforts in identifying policies, technologies and practices capable of addressing these issues in an integrated manner. The panelists included representatives from Spain, the Netherlands, USDOE, ITAIPU Binational, the International Hydropower Association, the Climate Change Research Institute of Guatemala and UNICEF.
Past Events
Meeting with Under-Secretary-General Mr. Liu Zhenmin
UN City, Copenhagen | 2 April 2019
On Monday 1 April, Mr. José Alberto Alderete, Paraguayan General Director of ITAIPU, and Ms. Monica Perez dos Santos, Financial Director of Itaipu (Paraguay), met Under-Secretary-General Mr. Liu Zhenmin in the margins of the Global Conference on Strengthening Synergies between the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, to discuss the progress of the Sustainable Water and Energy Solutions Partnership and the way forward.
Mr. Alderete presented Itaipu’s case studies compiling Itaipu’s best practices in the implementation of SDG6 on water and SDG7 on energy. They both emphasized the results achieved so far with the partnership, underscoring the importance of the recently launched Global Network on Sustainable Water and Energy Solutions that will help identify and scale-up best practices on integrated approaches to SDG 6 and SDG 7 in support of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The Under-Secretary-General and the Director General reconfirmed their strong commitment to the partnership and look forward to their continued cooperation to achieve its desired outcomes.
Side Event on "How the private sector can contribute to achieving the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda"
UN City, Copenhagen | 1 April 2019
On Monday 1 April, a side event at the Global Conference on Strengthening Synergies between the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, entitled “How the private sector can contribute to achieving the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda” was organized. The event included remarks by the Under-Secretary-General of UN DESA Mr. Liu Zhenmin; Mr. José Alberto Alderete, General Director, ITAIPU, Paraguay; Ms. Claribelle Poujol, Head of Resource Mobilization and Partnerships of UNFCCC; Mr. Gonzalo Saenz de Miera, Director, Climate Change, Iberdrola; Mr. Ole Lund Hansen, Chief, Global Operations, UN Global Compact, and Ms. Constança Pinto Moura, Public Affairs Advisor, Danfoss A/S.
Moderated by Ms. Leena Srivastava, Vice Chancellor of TERI University, the event showcased best practices undertaken by private sector representatives to support the achievement of the climate and SDGs agendas, analyzed challenges and opportunities, and suggested possible strategies for further engagement with private sector. Participants underscored energy and water as key factors to achieve the interconnected agendas of sustainable development and climate change, and highlighted the essential contributions from private sector in providing innovation, technologies and business models for achieving these agendas. The importance of multi-stakeholder partnerships integrating different SDGs as well as climate goals was emphasized.
Under-Secretary-General Mr. Liu Remarks
USG Liu Zhenmin launched the Global Network "Sustainable Water and Energy Solutions"
New York, NY, USA | 4 December 2018
On Tuesday, 4 December 2018, USG Liu Zhenmin launched the Global Network "Sustainable Water and Energy Solutions", together with Mr. Mario Antonio Cecato, Executive Financial Director, ITAIPU, Brazil and Ms. Monica Perez dos Santos, Financial Director, ITAIPU, Paraguay. Alongside UN DESA and ITAIPU, the event included remarks by Ms. Cristina Goralewski, President of the National Forestry Institute, Ministry of Environment, Paraguay, and by Mr. Richard Taylor, CEO of the International Hydropower Association.
The global sustainability network on SDG 6 and SDG 7 interlinkages will consist of a large number of multi-stakeholders who really care about the subject and promote an integrated approach to SDG 6 and SDG 7 in support of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The main objectives of the network will be to share best practices, experiences and quality data; strengthen capacity building; mobilise and scale up multi-stakeholder action; and enhance advocacy, communications and outreach. Together with UN DESA and ITAIPU, initial members of the Network include the Government of Spain, the International Hydropower Association and the World Energy Council.
Sustainable Water and Energy Solutions as Integrated Response to Climate Change
Katowice, Poland | 5 December 2018
On Wednesday, 5 December, an official COP24 side event, entitled "Sustainable water and energy solutions as integrated response to climate change" was organized. The event included remarks by the Under-Secretary-General of UN DESA Mr. Liu Zhenmin; UNFCCC Executive Secretary Ms. Patricia Espinosa; Mr. Mario Antonio Cecato, Executive Financial Director, ITAIPU, Brazil; Ms. Monica Perez dos Santos, Financial Director, ITAIPU, Paraguay, and Ms. Teresa Solana Méndez de Vigo of Spain's Ministry of Ecological Transition.
The event highlighted the interlinkages between water (SDG 6), energy (SDG 7) and climate change (SDG 13). Speakers shared policies, business models and programmes with an integrated approach to water and energy as adaptation and mitigation strategies to climate change. Furthermore, necessary technologies and good practices to implement the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement at different levels were presented.
Building a Global Network on Sustainable Water and Energy Solutions
Katowice, Poland | 6 December 2018
On Thursday, 6 December, a side-event at the SDG Pavilion (jointly hosted by UN DESA and GEIDCO) was held entitled "Building a Global Network on Sustainable water and energy solutions".
The objective of the side-event was to highlight the importance and interlinkages of water and energy towards the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and combat climate change, provide insights on why the Global Network has been established, its objective and planned activities, as well as present case studies on Itaipu’s best practices implementing the 2030 Agenda.
The session was opened by Mr. Nicolas Franke (Division for Sustainable Development Goals, UN DESA), followed by Ms. Isabel Raya (Division for Sustainable Development Goals, UN DESA); Ms. Ligia Leite, ITAIPU Brazil, and Ms. Maria Eugenia Alderete, ITAIPU Paraguay.
Strengthening Integrated Responses to Water and Energy as a Strategy for Climate Change Action
Cervantes Institute, New York, NY, USA | 26 September 2018
On 26 September, UN DESA together with Itaipu Binational and the Government of Spain, under the Sustainable Water and Energy Solutions Partnership, successfully held an event entitled “Strengthening integrated responses to water and energy as a strategy for climate change action” at the Cervantes Institute in New York.
This event consisted of a high-level and technical panel, both moderated by DSDG. The high-level panel included remarks by H.E. Minister Gugile Ernest Nkwinti, Minister of Water and Sanitation of South Africa; Ms. Cristina Gallach, High Commissioner for the 2030 Agenda, Spain; Mr. José Antônio Marcondes de Carvalho, Under-Secretary-General for Environment, Energy, Science and Technology of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil; and Ms. Arianna Giuliodori, Secretary General, World Farmers’ Organisation.
The event had over 60 attendees and provided an opportunity to showcase and discuss leadership examples on integrated responses to water and energy as a strategy for climate change action. The event also provided an opportunity to present the proposed Sustainable Water and Energy Solutions Network currently under development.
Steeting Committee Meeting, 28. 09. 2018
New York, NY, USA | 28 September 2018
On Friday 28 September, the Steering Committee (SC) of the of the "Sustainable Water and Energy Solutions" partnership, co-chaired by Itaipu Director Genertal's and UN DESA met for the second time and gathered ideas for how to start building the global network of the initiative, as well as for implementing the 2019 work plan.