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The Importance of Cooperation Between Transboundary River United Nations International Centre Educational, Scientific and for Water Resources and Global Change Cultural Organization under the auspices of UNESCO Jennifer Cruz - Political Science Major at the Notre Dame University of Maryland, USA The Importance of Cooperation Between Transboundary River Countries United Nations International Centre Educational, Scientific and for Water Resources and Global Change Cultural Organization under the auspices of UNESCO The Importance of Cooperation Between Transboundary River Countries This work was composed during an internship at the International Centre for Water Resources and Global Change (ICWRGC) located in Koblenz, Germany, during a span of 3 months, from May to August. Taking up the publication from Molnar, Kata, et al. (2017), this internship work focuses on cooperation between countries. It points out the importance of cooperation especially within transboundary river countries using the Nile and the Rhine River asexamples where cooperation has developed over time. Author: Jennifer Cruz - Political Science Major at the Notre Dame University of Maryland, USA Acknowledgement for Support and Guidance: Harald Köthe, Supervisor of the internship Director of the International Centre for Water Resources and Global Change (ICWRGC), located in Koblenz, Germany. Dr. Susanne Schmeier Senior Lecturer in Water Law, Diplomacy and Transboundary Water Management at the IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, the Netherlands. Heide Jekel Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, located in Bonn, Germany. Head of Division WR I 4 - Cooperation in International River Basins, Freshwater Management Conventions, International Freshwater Protection Law. Dr. Tabea Stötter and Dr. Laura Gangi International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine (ICPR) located in Koblenz, Germany. 30 July 2019 Source: tai111 – stock.adobe.com Table of Contents 1 Introduction 5 1.1 The Importance of Freshwater: A Human Right 5 1.2 UN initiatives: SDG 6, UN Water, EU 5 2 Transboundary River Challenges –Shown through examples on the Nile and Rhine River 7 2.1 Why is Cooperation Important? 7 2.2 Under What Conditions is Cooperation Possible? 8 2.3 Challenges That Impede Cooperation 9 2.4 What Drives Countries to Cooperate? 9 2.5 Factors for Cooperation 10 2.6 The Result of Cooperation 11 3 Conclusion and Outlook 13 Work Citations 15 Introduction The goal of this paper is to understand why cooperation is important for countries sharing a river using examples such as the Nile River and the Rhine River. Different forces influence countries to cooperate and differences are set aside in order to 1 find mutually beneficial goals. Factors like water pollution, governmental and political concerns, as well as driving forces such as climate change and population growth can push countries to cooperate. It is important to take a close look at the- se issues and ask how they can be improved. The Nile River, although very different from the Rhine, can still share similarities; the rivers both signify a lifeline for all of those who benefit from their water. Both rivers connect several countries, but not all aspects are positive: climate change, for instance, affects us all, therefore, not one river is free from its effects. It is important to note how humans adapt to new conditions from all parts of the world. Sharing that information can help other regions understand those conditions and better adapt to their surroundings. Water is one of the most important elements to the survival of humans, without water, nothing can survive. So, under what conditions is cooperation possible? Why is it important for countries to cooperate? And, what drives countries to cooperate? 1.1 The Importance of Freshwater: A Human Right According to the World Health The UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Organization (WHO), an estimated Development and its 17 Sustainable 1.2 billion people worldwide do not Development Goals (SDGs) focuses on have access to clean drinking water, people, the planet, prosperity, peace, with numbers predicted to rise. Lack and partnership. The aim is to set of access to clean drinking water is a human rights as a top priority; a violation of human rights. In July 2010, shared principle and commitment. the United Nation’s General Assembly The new Agenda is guided by the explicitly recognized the human right purposes and principles of the to water and sanitation (UN Office of Charter of the United Nations, the High Commissioner Rights). So including full respect for international why is it that accessibility to safe and law. It is grounded in the Universal clean water continues to be a debate? Declaration of Human Rights, interna- We have a global responsibility to do tional human rights treaties, the better and want better for the count- Millennium Declaration and the 2005 less people who to this day lack safe, World Summit Outcome Document. It easily accessible, and clean water. is informed by other instruments such as the Declaration on the Right to Rivers and ambient freshwater are Development. very important to our livelihood, that is why water needs to be protected and cleaned. A river knows no country boarders, it just continues to flow. That is why it is important to have cooperation between the countries in which transboundary rivers flow. A stable legal framework is essential in obtaining reliable cooperation between states. But how can coun- tries effectively cooperate? A major challenge is having countries with political disparity organize water agreements that all riparian countries involved can agree on. Understanding the importance of water can help guide a country towards improving their water quality. Source: sawitreelyaon – stock.adobe.com 3 1.2 UN initiatives and Social Council” 18 October 1999) Watercourses and International Lakes objectives are to protect human he- (Water Convention) aims to ensure The Sustainable Development alth by bettering water management the sustainable use of transboundary Goal 6 (SDG 6) and by reducing water-related disea- water resources by assisting with In the definition of SDG 6: “Ensure ses. The Protocol and the Convention cooperation. Originally, it was only access to water and sanitation for all” provide an agenda to practice the open to countries in the pan-European (UN SDGs, 2015) it is expressed “Clean, human rights to water and sanitation region but was made globally accessible water for all is an essential and to implement SDG 6. available in 2003. However, around part of the world we want to live in and two-thirds of the world’s trans- there is sufficient fresh water on the In the meantime the UNECE WC has boundary rivers do not have a planet to achieve this. However, due to been signed already by countries cooperative management framework. bad economics or poor infrastructure, outside its regional competence (UNEP, 2016). millions of people including children and is moving forward to become a die every year from diseases associated global convention. European Union (EU) with inadequate water supply, sanita- “The use of transboundary waters can tion and hygiene. At the current time, be managed through international more than 2 billion people are living United Nations Water (UN Water) multilateral agreements, bilateral with the risk of reduced access to fres- The United Nations Water (UN Water) agreements or by international hwater resources and by 2050 at least organizes the efforts of UN bodies customary law. The European Union one in four people are likely to live in a and international organizations (EU) stresses the importance of country affected by chronic or recurring working on water and sanitation regional cooperation on the issues of shortages of freshwater.” The World problems. They believe that water water, environment and energy. In Water Development Report 2019 matters are embodied in all of the this regard, the EU is supporting a “Leaving no one behind” (UN-Water, UN’s focus areas and that it is their project to enhance regional coope- 2019) shows the current situation and role to coordinate so that the UN ration on Environment and Water. the needed further efforts. conveys ‘as one’ in regard to water The EU initiative complements the associated issues (UN-Water, 2008). work of the World Bank in the region.” The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Water There are 263 transboundary lakes Library of the Convention (UNECE-WC) and river basins that cover almost half European Parliaments, 2018 The SDG target 6.5 raises the import- the Earth’s surface. 145 States have ance of transboundary cooperation: territory in these basins, and 30 “By 2030, implement integrated water countries lie entirely within them. resources management at all levels, Cooperation between countries is including through transboundary essential, especially in vulnerable cooperation as appropriate” Sub- areas where water is already scarce. goal 6.5.2 is defined “Proportion of Transnational rivers provide essential transboundary basin area with an ecosystem services to the surrounding operational arrangement for water populations. Since 1948, approximately cooperation” and its indicator 6.5.2 295 international water agreements seeks to oversee transboundary have been negotiated and signed water cooperation via reporting the (Wolf, Yoffe, Giordano, 2003; Salman, percentage of transboundary basin 2015); like the UNECE Water Conven- area within a country that has an tion, a legal framework for trans- operational arrangement for water boundary water cooperation cooperation. The reporting on this worldwide. The Convention on the indicator has been combined with Protection and Use of Transboundary the reporting on the Water Con- vention, because this Convention is meant to promote transboundary water cooperation and regulates a lot of details how to organize this cooperation. The Water Convention requires parties to institute coopera- tion agreements or arrangements for their transboundary waters (Article 9).” (UNECE Water Convention 2003). The UNECE-WHO/Europe Protocol on Water and Health’s (UN “Economic 4 Transboundary Challenges can arise within transboundary river countries, but solutions can also River Challenges come about.
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