Balancing clean water-climate change mitigation tradeoffs

Parkinson, S. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4753-5198, Krey, V. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0307-3515, Huppmann, D. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7729-7389, Kahil, T. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7812-5271, McCollum, D., Fricko, O. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6835-9883, Byers, E. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0349-5742, Gidden, M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0687-414X, et al. (2018). Balancing clean water-climate change mitigation tradeoffs. IIASA Working Paper. IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria: WP-18-005

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Abstract

Energy systems support technical solutions fulfilling the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal for clean water and sanitation (SDG6), with implications for future energy demands and greenhouse gas emissions. The energy sector is also a large consumer of water, making water efficiency targets ingrained in SDG6 important for long-term energy planning. Here, we apply a global integrated assessment model to quantify the cost and characteristics of infrastructure pathways balancing SDG6 clean water targets with long-term energy transformations limiting climate warming to 1.5 ˚C. The rapid expansions of water infrastructure and water efficiency to meet SDG6 targets increase energy decarbonization costs by 3 to 8 %. Conversely, under the 1.5 ˚C policy, shifts to electricity-intensive water systems in SDG6 pathways raises water prices by 2 to 9 %. Through water conservation and integrated water-energy planning we can achieve a collection of sustainability targets while avoiding incremental costs.

This working paper was subsequently published in Environmental Research Letters and is available here, http://pure.iiasa.ac.at/id/eprint/15591/.

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