Science and Technology Diplomacy, Volume III

A Focus on the Americas with Lessons for the World

Hassan A. Vafai, Kevin E. Lansey

• Publisher: Momentum Press
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781947083653
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Global Warming & Climate Change
• Index: Biological Sciences

Science diplomacy and policy can support collaborative national and international science for advancing knowledge with societal impact in fields such as climate, space, medicine, and the environment.,

Scientific advances made possible by the basic and applied research carried out by government agencies, universities, and nongovernmental organizations create opportunities and challenges with growing impact on policy decisions. Developing structures that produce the best science information to policy makers is becoming more critical in an ever-changing world.

This three-volume set presented by prominent figures from the disciplines of science, engineering, technology, and diplomacy includes their perspectives on potential solutions to opportunities 21st-century scientists, engineers, and diplomats face in the future: To shed light and interface science, technology, and engineering with the realm of policy; To provide a vision for the future by identifying obstacles and opportunities while focusing on several key issues.

PART 1

Climate Change Challenges for the Americas and the Role of Science Diplomacy

Introduction to IAI Science Diplomacy and Capacity Building and Water Sustainability Challenges for the Americas

Christopher Scott

Director, Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy

It is my pleasure to welcome you to the panel and the two speakers this morning. Let’s talk about how to construct a science diplomacy with a focus on the Americas. I am Christopher Scott. I’m Director of the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy at the University of Arizona and also a professor of geography and development in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. And, my own background is extensive work with—including with several of the speakers here at the table—others of you, here in the Americas, and also in a past life in south Asia.

It is my pleasure to welcome you and get our focus and attention today on science diplomacy in the Americas. We have two outstanding speakers, both of whom are scientists, science diplomats, and diplomatic scientists. Without further ado, let me welcome the first speaker this morning, Marcella Ohira. She is the Deputy Director for Capacity Building at the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research. She’ll explain about Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI), which was conceived and founded as a diplomatic institute for the Americas, not just Latin America; the United States and Canada are also members, as well as English-speaking countries in other parts of the Americas. So, it is truly a pan-hemispheric institute.

I’d like to introduce Dr. Katherine Vammen, who is Dean of the Faculty of Science, Technology and Environment of the University of Central America in Nicaragua. We’ll have a bit more of her focus, particularly on water and water resources in the Central American region, but she’s also a member of the grouping of national science academies that represents a number of those academies from the Central American region.

Water Sustainability Challenges of the Americas

Katherine Vammen

Dean, Faculty of Science, Technology and the Environment, University of Central America, Managua, Nicaragua

ABSTRACT

In Latin America, the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals are key to promoting economic growth, improved public infrastructure, and rational improved resource management. In spite of the fact that water and sanitation efforts have improved across the region, resulting in a decrease in waterborne disease cases, Katherine Vammen, Dean of the Faculty of Science, Technology and the Environment at the University of Central America (UCA), explored numerous gaps that exist with respect to planning and preparing for projected water sustainability challenges caused by environmental degradation, climate change, and needed water management interventions which also take into account equity issues. The treatment of water and minimization of its contamination along with improved watershed management in urban and rural areas is critical to the sustainable development of the region and improved quality of life for its population. International scientific cooperation is key to the analysis of water resource problems and finding adequate solutions.

Keywords: International collaboration, Latin America, nicaragua sustainable development, water issues, water resource management

GLOBAL CHALLENGES FOR IMPROVING WATER MANAGEMENT MUST BE MET BY SCIENCE DIPLOMACY AND POLICY MAKING IN THE AMERICAS

The challenges facing Latin America in the twenty-first century are international in scope and cannot be resolved through the efforts of individual nations. All countries in Latin America have made progress toward achieving, or have achieved, some of the Millennium and Sustainable Development Goals; however, the populations of individual nations have not necessarily experienced equal benefits from these regional investments. For example, enormous disparities exist between urban and rural areas as well as between the rich and poor, resulting in access disparities to water, sanitation, and safety, especially when considering current climate change trends. Given that water is affected by climate change and environmental degradation, it may rightly be regarded as a measure of equity with respect to living conditions, social equality, and poverty.

GLOBAL DEMANDS FOR WATER RESOURCES

Global demands on water resources are growing for all uses such as agriculture, industry, domestic, and others. Water consumption is also greater for developed countries where domestic consumption (500 to 800 liters per person per day) is almost six times that of developing countries (60 to 150 liters per person per day).¹ The access to renewable reserves of water in the Americas is favorable in comparison to other continents running from 2,500 m3 per inhabitant per year upward.² It is important to consider the links and relationships to all resources that consume water, especially food and energy. Globally, agriculture accounts for approximately 3,100 billion m3 or 71 percent of water withdrawals today, and without efficiency gains this will increase to 4,500 billion m3 by 2030.³ The demand for water in energy production has been predicted to increase severely as regional economies grow from 2000 to 2030 (56 percent in Latin America, 63 percent in West Asia, 65 percent in Africa, and 78 percent in Asia).⁴ So this brings up the question how the sustainable use of water can be achieved when already 70 percent of the world’s water is allocated to agriculture. The highly interlinked needs for water–energy–food requires comprehensive solutions coordinated among different stakeholders, local, national, and international. The common factor that threads through all is water. The roll of science and policy making based on information is key to meeting these water sustainability challenges.

WATER SUSTAINABILITY CHALLENGES FOR THE AMERICAS

WATER ACCESS AND SANITATION IN THE AMERICAS

Access to water is one of the most pressing concerns for Latin American development. The development of access to water and sanitation practices for urban centers in many countries in Latin America has often occurred in parallel with the neglect of peri-urban (urban peripheral) and rural development, characterized by unsafe housing conditions and poor water/septic infrastructure, among other problems.⁵

Latin America is globally one of the region’s most heavily urbanized, with an average of approximately 80 percent of its population living in cities, and this number is projected to rise to 86 percent by 2050.⁶ Its population has almost doubled in the past three decades, from about 300 million to more than 600 million.⁷

Of the urban population, about 94 percent have access to piped water, an improvement from 88 percent in 1990, and 88 percent have access to reliable sanitation.⁸ The focus on urban populations by their respective governments is understandable, given population concentrations. However, as these cities grow and populations in rural areas are displaced by either economic or environmental factors, the problems plaguing those living in peri-urban and rural areas are being compounded.

The Water Program at Inter-American Network of Academies of Sciences published a book which included 20 country chapters of the Americas (North America, Caribbean, Mexico, Central America, and South America) specifically on urban waters and the challenges. This compendium of information on urban waters involved the work of 120 authors, all experts in water management with different specialties.⁹

Urbanization goes hand in hand with the intensification of the use of water resources for human needs. The hydrological systems play an important role in the development and growth of urban centers not only for potable water but also for deposition of wastes. The problems plaguing these areas originate in preparation and planning failures of urban development. The structural crisis of most urban centers begins in the decade of the 1960s (after many decades of growth) with irregular increase in sectors without services occupying the peripheral zones of urban areas when the capacity for public investment was strongly reduced, causing problems associated with inadequate infrastructure, problems with the construction of new works, and the failure to integrate water in the design of integral urban solutions.¹⁰

Most countries of Latin America report problems with continuity of services which inevitably lead to health problems. Added to these are ruptures in the distribution system and lack of renovations in most cities of Latin America.¹¹ Peri-urban areas have largely come about in the past few decades as a result of rapid population growth and the failure to incorporate new communities. Displaced populations—removed from their homes due to environmental conditions, war, or economic necessity—have arrived in cities, looking for opportunities no longer available in rural areas, settling along the periphery of the city. Ordinarily, these areas are not provided with piped water or sufficient sanitation, which can lead to serious community health threats.¹² In the absence of piped water, residents may store water in open containers, inadvertently providing still water for mosquitoes to inhabit, breed, and possibly spread infectious disease to the population. This has occurred in multiple countries and is a well-documented phenomenon in, for example, Nicaragua.¹³ Therefore, it is debatable whether these displaced populations’ access to water and services in these impromptu living environments is an improvement when compared to their formal rural homes.

In most countries of Latin America water-transmitted diseases are reported with higher register of cases in the most underdeveloped part of the cities particularly in peripheral poor populations. Acute diarrhea disease and those caused by vectors such as mosquitos, Malaria and Dengue, and in the last years Chikungunya and Zika.

It is important to mention that in the last decade there has been an improvement in cities in both Latin American and Caribbean countries as a result of better access to water and increasing installation of sanitation. Progress in development of public health surveillance systems has also contributed to this improvement.

The focus of many nations on urban development has resulted in significantly less impressive service penetration in rural areas; however, as with urban provision, progress has been made. Rural access to water services is currently about 68 percent, up from 37 percent in 1990. Although sanitation is provided...