19.09.2024 / News

The fourth Eurasian Women's Forum hosted for the first time a session devoted to the problem of water resources and overcoming the water crisis

On September 19, as part of the second day of the fourth Eurasian Women's Forum, a thematic session "Blue Ocean: New Opportunities for Women" was held. As the participants noted, improving social well-being, public health and solving demographic problems are impossible without access to clean water. At the same time, deforestation, deteriorating environmental conditions and climate change make it an increasingly expensive resource.

The discussion was moderated by Irina Gaida, Deputy Director of the Skoltech Center for Energy Transition . Participants discussed what opportunities are opening up for women in the field of water supply, what innovative practices can be replicated in other countries, and how to ensure access to funding for women entrepreneurs' projects in the field of creating water infrastructure.

In particular, the project manager of the State Agency for Vocational Training in the Field of Energy and Water Workforce of South Africa , Nelisiwe Nhlapo , and the executive director of the International Scientific Center for Ecology and Climate Change from Uzbekistan, Dinara Ziganshina , spoke about examples of international cooperation .

For both regions, the problem of water shortage is very acute. But if in Africa, despite the implementation of educational programs, the number of women in leadership positions in this area is still insignificant, in Uzbekistan their share in leadership positions in ministries and departments already reaches 30%. At the same time, a draft gender concept of water management is being developed, and a Water Code is being developed, which will include a clause on the prevention of discrimination on the basis of gender.

A gender assessment of the activities carried out by the scientific center not so long ago has already shown how different the approach can be. Thus, practically not a single man in these issues spoke about the problem of water quality, while it was actively raised by women.

About a third of women are also in the team of PJSC RusHydro, which has more than 68 thousand employees. At the same time, the female point of view is actively taken into account here. As the head of the production engineering and sustainable development department of the company Alexander Kraevoy said , three years ago a non-trivial task was set - to understand what processes occur inside the reservoir. This study was headed by RAS professor Irina Repina. She initiated the creation of an innovative assessment model.

"The creation of this model, its mathematical understanding and practical confirmation on nine of our reservoirs allowed us to identify patterns of how greenhouse gas emissions occur within the Russian Federation. These studies have proven that reservoirs are mainly absorbers of greenhouse gases and retain them in their thickness, which also contributes to the fight against climate change," noted Alexander Kraevoy.

Further work in this direction allowed us to develop a system for assessing compliance with sustainable development criteria based on an analysis of the efficiency of hydropower facility management based on more than 300 parameters. And this is not only the reservoir, but also the hydroelectric power station and adjacent territories.

The study was noted by the Eurasian Economic Commission. Work on it is planned in the CIS and BRICS countries. "Similar climate impact assessments exist in India, Brazil, China, and other countries that are interested in joining BRICS. This is one of the elements of that diplomacy and an example of how people, by proposing new solutions, can create global changes," the speaker emphasized.

As for adaptation to climate change: the solution to this problem, according to him, is the project to build two hydroelectric power plants, which are designed to combat flooding, but can also generate energy. The initiative may be of interest to banking ecosystems, since the potential of such facilities can be used to create data processing centers.

"The main problem I see in the water sector, if we take a broader view, is that there is a large conglomerate of projects that are not clear how they pay for themselves and are bankable. In general, all over the world they are currently financed by government funds, mainly through grants. And, probably, this is correct. Another issue is that there is a catastrophic shortage of funds," said Anastasia Lavrentyeva, Deputy Head of the Center for the Implementation of Sustainable Development Principles at Gazprombank.

According to her, a similar situation was observed in the energy sector before. Its solution allowed for more efficient use of energy. But energy itself is expensive, and this was an incentive for investors. The water tariff, especially for the population, is a very sensitive issue. Its increase requires separate discussion for a number of reasons.

"From our point of view, a number of tools can be introduced gradually, but this should happen with the involvement of the population, with the understanding that the resource - water - is very valuable, and it needs to be saved. And this should happen at the level of each family and company," the speaker admitted. She is sure that even such projects have a chance to receive funding not only from grants, but also with the involvement of private capital, as is currently happening with climate financing. At least, such examples are already beginning to appear.

Continuing the dialogue, Elena Gershelis, Executive Director of the International Scientific Center for Ecology and Climate Change of the ANO VO "Scientific and Technological University Sirius", spoke about the role of new technologies in overcoming the water crisis . And her colleague, Evgeniya Chibis , Chair of the Supervisory Board of the ANO "United Volunteer Center" of the Murmansk Region , discussed the involvement of local communities in solving the problem of water resources.

The Fourth Eurasian Women's Forum is taking place on September 18-20 in St. Petersburg. It is organized by the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and the Interparliamentary Assembly of Member Nations of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The operator for the preparation and holding of the event is the Roscongress Foundation.

Official forum website: 2024.eawf.ru.