A MATTER of SURVIVAL Report of the Global High-Level Panel on Water and Peace
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A MATTER OF SURVIVAL Report of the Global High-Level Panel on Water and Peace A MATTER OF SURVIVAL Report of the Global High-Level Panel on Water and Peace The Report of the Global High-Level Panel on Water and Peace is part of the Blue Peace initiative. This Report would not have been possible without the support of the Co-Convening Countries of the Panel: Cambodia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Estonia, France, Ghana, Hungary, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Oman, Senegal, Spain, Slovenia, and Switzerland. Special acknowledgment goes to Costa Rica, Jordan, Senegal and Switzerland who hosted meetings of the Panel. With the support of: Contents Abbreviations and Acronyms 2 Chairman’s Foreword 3 Synopsis 6 Chapter 1: The Drama of Water 11 Chapter 2: Into the Abyss: Water in Armed Conflicts 21 Chapter 3: An Ounce of Prevention: International Water Law and Transboundary Water Cooperation 33 Chapter 4: Quantity and Quality: Strengthening of the Knowledge-Based and Data-Driven Decision Making and Cooperation for Security and Peace 43 Chapter 5: People’s Diplomacy, Inter-Sectoral Water Management and Decision Making 53 Chapter 6: Financial Innovation for Water Cooperation 61 Chapter 7: In Pursuit of Agency: New Mechanisms of Water Diplomacy 69 Chapter 8: Water as an Asset for Peace: Conclusions and Recommendations 75 Annexes 81 References 90 1 Abbreviations and Accronyms ADB Asian Development Bank AIIB Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations CESCR Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights COP Conference of the Parties EBRD European Bank for Reconstruction and Development ESCWA United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia ESG Environmental, Social and Governance Principles ENMOD Environmental Modification Convention EU European Union FAO Food and Agriculture Organization IFC International Finance Corporation IW International Waters Program of the Global Environment Facility GEF Global Environment Facility GEMS Global Environment Monitoring System GHSF Global Hydrometry Support Facility GIF Global Infrastructure Facility GIS Geographical Information Systems GOWP Global Observatory for Water and Peace GWH Geneva Water Hub ICC International Criminal Court ICCPR International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ICESCR International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights ICMM International Council of Mining and Metals ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross IHL International Humanitarian Law ILC International Law Commission iMOMO Innovative Monitoring and Modelling IOWater International Office for Water IWRM Integrated Water Resources Management LMCM Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Mechanism MDB Multilateral Development Bank MRC Mekong River Commission OIC Organisation of Islamic Cooperation OMVS Senegal River Basin Development Organization (Organisation pour la mise en valeur du fleuve Senegal) PBC Peacebuilding Commission PPP Public-Private Partnership SADC Southern Africa Development Community SCADA Supervisory Control and Data Acquistions SDC Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDGs Sustainable Development Goals SFG Strategic Foresight Group TWAP Transboundary Water Assessment Programme UN United Nations UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNEP United Nations Environment Programme UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNECE United Nations Economic Commission for Europe UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund UNSC United Nations Security Council UNSGAB UN Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation VCP Voluntary Code of Practice WASH Water, Sanitation and Hygiene WEF World Economic Forum WHO World Health Organization WINS Water Information Network System WMO World Meteorological Organization 1992 UNECE Water Convention Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes 1997 UN Watercourses Convention UN Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Waters 2 Chairman’s Foreword Future historians may look back at the first decades of the 21st century as the time of dramatic global challenges and wavering global responses. Never in human history has the world been as interconnected and interdependent as it is today. Yet never in human history has the gap between the awareness of the global challenges and the actual level of global cooperation been as deep as it is now. Global peace in our era must be much more than the mere absence of a world war. Peace today requires strong and sophisticated mechanisms for the fostering of global security and all forms of global cooperation. Effective global cooperation is needed for the sustainability of the Earth’s natural environment, for economic and social development worldwide, and for the protection of our common humanity and dignity. Dr Danilo Türk, Chairman One of the key areas of our common future is water, thus international water cooperation is an imperative. Its importance is generally recognized – as witnessed in the pronouncements of the UN Millennium Development Goals of 2000 and the more recent Sustainable Development Goals of 2015. However, the actual level of international water cooperation leaves much to be desired. In addition, water problems are becoming ever more central in the armed conflicts of our era, a tendency that serves as a dramatic reminder of the fundamental nexus between water, security and peace. These considerations have led a group of fifteen UN Member States to initiate the creation of the Global High-Level Panel on Water and Peace. The Panel was launched at a ministerial meeting in Geneva on 16 November 2015. The fifteen Co-Convening Countries are: Cambodia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Estonia, France, Ghana, Hungary, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Oman, Senegal, Slovenia, Spain, and Switzerland. The Global High-Level Panel on Water and Peace was asked to study the nexus between water and peace, in light of the experiences of our era and to make recommendations for water as an instrument of peace. The Panel was composed of fifteen members acting in their individual capacities. We were tasked with preparing a report within two years and offering recommendations that would help policy makers in the future. The Panel was also asked to work in cooperation with the relevant stakeholders, notably the UN, and to hold consultations to get inputs from experts, policy makers and other relevant actors in different parts of the world. The Panel met four times between November 2015 and May 2017 to discuss linkages between water and peace, to conduct its analysis and to formulate its recommendations. The first meeting was held in Geneva, Switzerland in November 2015. The second meeting was held in Dakar, Senegal in April 2016, while the third meeting was held in San Jose, Costa Rica in December 2016. The fourth and final meeting of the Panel was held in Amman, Jordan in May 2017. The Panel met with experts and policy makers, as well as with civil society organizations in the regions where the meetings were held. These consultations provided the Panel with the opportunity to learn about the diversity of problems and about the 3 common denominators in the search for solutions. The Panel is grateful to the Governments of Switzerland, Senegal, Costa Rica and Jordan, as well as to the University for Peace in San Jose and the Royal Scientific Society in Amman for their hospitality and substantive assistance to its work. In addition to the core analytical work and the formulation of recommendations, the Panel members wished to emphasize the cultural dimensions of the understanding of water as an instrument of peace. Water has inspired artists from the early times of all the world’s civilizations. The Panel wished to pay tribute to this artistic aspect of water and, at the same time, take advantage of the musical expression of the message of water as a factor of peace. This is why, at each of the four meetings, a composer from the region where the meeting was held, composed a movement of the Symphony for Water and Peace. This work was completed in parallel to the Panel’s own activities. We are convinced that the Symphony will add a strong message of water as an instrument of peace, in addition to our report. The Panel also took advantage of expert consultations, organized in addition to our own meetings. Eight think tank roundtable discussions were organized in Geneva. Individual consultations were held with over one hundred experts and policy makers from all parts of the world on diverse occasions during the last two years. Several Panel members also prepared working papers to elucidate various substantive issues discussed in Panel meetings. On 22 November 2016 the UN Security Council conducted, at the initiative of its President at the time, Senegal, the first ever thematic debate on water, security and peace. I was asked to brief the Security Council about the Panel’s work. The subsequent discussion, in which 69 UN Member States, including all fifteen members of the Security Council, participated, showed a growing sense of urgency on the issues of water and peace, and readiness to continue the discussion with a view to developing adequate responses. Several Council members expressed interest in a discussion of the report, once it is launched and presented to the UN. This interaction with a wide variety of experts and policy makers, as well as representatives from civil society, and the business and scientific communities provided the Panel