The present study introduces a multi-criteria index to assess flood hazard areas in a regional scale. Accordingly, a Flood Hazard Index (FHI) has been defined and a spatial analysis in a GIS environment has been applied for the estimation of its value. The developed methodology processes information of seven parameters namely flow accumulation, distance from the drainage network, elevation, land use, rainfall intensity and geology. The initials of these criteria gave the name to the developed method: "FIGUSED". The relative importance of each parameter for the occurrence and severity of flood has been connected to weight values. These values are calculated following an "Analytical Hierarchy Process", a method originally developed for the solution of Operational Research problems. According to their weight values, information of the different parameters is superimposed, resulting to flood hazard mapping. The accuracy of the method has been supported by a sensitivity analysis that examines a range for the weights' values and corresponding to alternative scenarios. The presented methodology has been applied to an area in north-eastern Greece, where recurring flood events have appeared. Initially FIGUSED method resulted to a Flood Hazard Index (FHI) and a corresponding flood map. A sensitivity analysis on the parameters' values revealed some interesting information on the relative importance of each criterion, presented and commented in the Discussion section. Moreover, the sensitivity analysis concluded to a revised index FHIS (methodology named FIGUSED-S) and flood mapping, supporting the robustness of FIGUSED methodology. A comparison of the outcome with records of historical flood events confirmed that the proposed methodology provides valid results.

Africa's economic and population growth prospects are likely to increase energy and water demands. This quantitative study shows that pathways towards decarbonization of the energy sector in Africa may lead to higher water withdrawals and consumption than expected. By 2065, investments in low-carbon energy infrastructure increase annual withdrawals from 1% (2.0oC) to 2% (1.5oC) of total renewable water resources compared to 3% in the baseline scenario, despite lower final energy demands in the mitigation scenarios. Water consumption, in comparison to the baseline, increases by 282% (2.0oC) and 300% (1.5oC) by 2065, due to the high water-intensity of the low-carbon energy system. To meet the 1.5oC pathway, the energy sector requires higher water consumption overall and per unit of energy than other scenarios. These findings demonstrate the crucial role of integrated energy planning and water resources management if Africa is to achieve climate-compatible growth.

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