UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes Republic of Cameroon – Ministry of Water Resources and Energy

Dr. Aleš Bizjak Slovenian Water Agency

Practical experience of a Party in the implementation of the Convention: the case of Slovenia

Information and Sharing workshop related to the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes: Cameroon’s accession process

Yaounde, 5 November 2019 CONTENT

1. Characteristics of the hydrographic network in Slovenia 2. Transboundary IWRM adminstrative arrangements in the Republic of Slovenia 3. Contribution of the UNECE Water Convention implementation to the transboundary IWRM policy development in Slovenia 4. Bilateral transboundary IWRM activities of the Republic of Slovenia 5. Regional and subregional transboundary IWRM activites of the Republic of Slovenia 6. Global transboundary IWRM activites of the Republic of Slovenia 7. Conclusions

1991 1999 1995 1956 1994 1997 1955 1945 1980 1993 1998 2002 2015 1992

1992 1996 Dr. A. Bizjak / Practical experience of a Party in the implementation of the Convention: the case of Slovenia / Yaounde, 5 November 2019 INTRODUCTION

Slovenia: geographical location, recent history and baseline statistics

Area: 20.273 km2 • the most global legal Population 2018 estimate: 2.084.301 framework for Capital City Ljubljana: 292.988 transboundary IWRM Population density: 102 / km2 • preventing and controling GDP nominal (estimate 2019) • sustainable water use Total: $55 billion • promotion of agreements Per capita: $26,621 and joint bodies

83% Slovenes 2% Serbs 1.8% Croats 1% Bosniaks 12% others 1992 / 1996

1991

3rd Balkan War 1991-1995 1999

Dr. A. Bizjak / Practical experience of a Party in the implementation of the Convention: the case of Slovenia / Yaounde, 5 November 2019 HYDROGRAPHIC NETWORK

area: 20.273 km2 Hydrographic network and river basins RN length : 26.989 km1 RN densitiy: 1,33 km1 / km2

point sources of pollution dispersed sources of polution hydromorphological alteration

micro plastics nano plastics

80 %

20 %

Source: IzVRS, 2015 Dr. A. Bizjak / Practical experience of a Party in the implementation of the Convention: the case of Slovenia / Yaounde, 5 November 2019 HYDROGRAPHIC NETWORK

Main (transboundary) rivers (Water Law, 2002)

(1) DOWNSTREAM COUNTRY Mura river Kučnica river Velika Krka river Kobiljski creek

Drava river

(2) UPSTREAM COUNTRY Sava river Sotla river Kolpa river

Reka river Dragonja river

Soča river Nadiža river Vipava river

Source: IzVRS, 2015

Dr. A. Bizjak / Practical experience of a Party in the implementation of the Convention: the case of Slovenia / Yaounde, 5 November 2019 HYDROGRAPHIC NETWORK

Water quantities and other specifics

• inflow to Slovenia: 420 m3/s • outflow from Slovenia: 1.010 m3/s (840 m3/s into the Black Sea, 170m3/s into the Adriatic Sea) - 1 % outflow from Europe (100.000 m3/s) • annual river flows in Slovenia: 34 km3 = 34.000.000.000 m3 • available amount of water 17.000 m3 / inhabitant (4x EU average) • 980.000.000 m3 water provided in 2014 (83% industry and electricity, 17% public water network)

relief forest cover NATURA 2000

0 – 2.864 m a.s.l. 58% of the national territory 37% of the national territory Source: WIKI

Dr. A. Bizjak / Practical experience of a Party in the implementation of the Convention: the case of Slovenia / Yaounde, 5 November 2019 ADMINISTRATIVE ARRANGEMENTS

Transboundary IWRM arrangements in Slovenia – ministries, involved in IWRM and consequently in transboundary issues

RS RS RS RS RS RS RS MDDSZ MF MGRT MzI MIZS MJU MKGP

RS RS RS RS RS RS RS MK MNZ MO MOP MP MZ MZZ

Dr. A. Bizjak / Practical experience of a Party in the implementation of the Convention: the case of Slovenia / Yaounde, 5 November 2019 Foto: UNIC-SUB, L. Fonda ADMINISTRATIVE ARRANGEMENTS

Transboundary IWRM arrangements in Slovenia – institutions, involved in IWRM and transboundary issues in ENV sector

RS MOP Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning ARSO (Slovenian Environment Agency)

ce mb kr GeoZS ms lj (Geological Survey of Slovenia) kp MBP nm go (Marine Biology Station) DRSV IzVRS (Slovenian Water Agency) (Institute for Water of the Republic of Slovenia) Foto: UNIC-SUB, L. Fonda Dr. A. Bizjak / Practical experience of a Party in the implementation of the Convention: the case of Slovenia / Yaounde, 5 November 2019 ADMINISTRATIVE ARRANGEMENTS

Transboundary IWRM arrangements in Slovenia – hierarchy of the agreements

UN level UN level

regional level regional level

trilateral level bilateral level

sea inland waters (rivers, lakes, groundwaters)

Dr. A. Bizjak / Practical experience of a Party in the implementation of the Convention: the case of Slovenia / Yaounde, 5 November 2019 ADMINISTRATIVE ARRANGEMENTS

Transboundary IWRM arrangements in Slovenia – hierarchy of the agreements for inland waters (rivers, lakes, groundwaters)

UN HLPF UN Agenda 2030 SDG 6 UNECE UN level UfM Water Convention

UfM Water Agenda exchange ICPDR Danube River Basin District regional level

ISRBC

Sava River Basin sub-regional level

knowledge and

SI / A SI / H SI / CRO SI / I bilateral level

ata ata d

data and knowledge exchange

Dr. A. Bizjak / Practical experience of a Party in the implementation of the Convention: the case of Slovenia / Yaounde, 5 November 2019 ADMINISTRATIVE ARRANGEMENTS

Transboundary IWRM arrangements in Slovenia – E vode: open data source for bilateral activities

http://www.evode.gov.si/index.php?id=92

Dr. A. Bizjak / Practical experience of a Party in the implementation of the Convention: the case of Slovenia / Yaounde, 5 November 2019 CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE UNECE WATER CONVENTION IMPLEMENTATION IN SLOVENIA

Contribution of the UNECE Water Convention implementation to the transboundary IWRM policy development in Slovenia (1) at the national lelvel: • by boosting the cross-sectorial cooperation of sectors, involved in IWRM • by activating inter-sectorial working groups on different IWRM topics (in process) • by introducing new approaches, techniques and methods in transboundary IWRM

(2) at the bilateral level: • by updating of the work and content of the agendas of the commissions based on reporting to the Water Convention and to the UN Agenda 2030 SDG6 Indicators 6.5.1 and 6.5.2

(3) at the regional and sub-regional level: • by strengthening cooperation in transboundary basins of a regional and sub-regional scale • by promoting the three pillars of the Water Convention • by contributing diverse kind of resources for applications of the up-to-date approaches, methods, background studies, solutions on diverse fields of IWRM (IWRM, monitoring and assessment, nexus assessment, climate change adaptation, etc.)

(4) at the global level: • by supporting the development of the hydro-diplomacy (EU Conclusions 2013, 2018) • by being baseline tool for preventing or mitigating the water crisis • by contributing to the water-peace-stability nexus • by boosting the co-operation of Slovenia with other states in European region and beyond

Dr. A. Bizjak / Practical experience of a Party in the implementation of the Convention: the case of Slovenia / Yaounde, 5 November 2019 BILATERAL LEVEL

Permanent Slovenian-Austrian Commission for the Drava River (Agreement, 1955 / 1993)

Permanent Slovenian-Austrian Commission for the Mura River (Agreement, 1956 / 1993)

Permanent Slovenian-Hungarian Commission for water management (Agreement, 1995)

Permanent Slovenian-Croatian Commission for water management (Treaty, 1997)

Permanent Slovenian-Italian Commission for water management (Agreement, 1980 / 1992)

1991 1999 1995 1956 1994 1997 1955 1945 1980 1993 1998 2002 2015 1992

1992 1996 Dr. A. Bizjak / Practical experience of a Party in the implementation of the Convention: the case of Slovenia / Yaounde, 5 November 2019 SUB-REGIONAL LEVEL

International Commission for the Sava River Basin (ISRBC) (Framework Agreement for the Sava River Basin, 2002)

Dr. A. Bizjak / Practical experience of a Party in the implementation of the Convention: the case of Slovenia / Yaounde, 5 November 2019 SUB-REGIONAL LEVEL

International Sava River Basin ▪ catchment area: app. 97.700 km2 (the second largest Danube sub-basin; share: 12%) ▪ average flow at the mouth: app.1.700 m3/s (the largest Danube tributary, share: 25%) ▪ river length: 945 km (app. 600 km of which is the waterway) ▪ population: app. 8,2 million ▪ social diversity: GDP's: 35.566 int $ / 25.806 int $ / 13.442 int $/ 15.941 int $ ▪ religious diversity: Roman-Catholic, Orthodox, Muslim

country share

Slovenia 12 %

Croatia 26 %

Bosnia-Herzegovina 39 %

Serbia 15 %

Montenegro 7 %

Albania 0,2 %

Dr. A. Bizjak / Practical experience of a Party in the implementation of the Convention: the case of Slovenia / Yaounde, 5 November 2019 3rd Balkan War 1991 – 1995

Dr. A. Bizjak / Practical experience of a Party in the implementation of the Convention: the case of Slovenia / Yaounde, 5 November 2019 SUB-REGIONAL LEVEL

Dayton Agreement (Dayton, 1 November 1995) Conference de Paix sur l‘ex Yougoslavie (Paris, 14 December 1995)

(Source: WIKI)

Dr. A. Bizjak / Practical experience of a Party in the implementation of the Convention: the case of Slovenia / Yaounde, 5 November 2019 SUB-REGIONAL LEVEL

Post-war period challenges to the Sava River Basin IWRM • Sava river turned from the biggest national river into an international river, • appropriate institutional framework for WRM ceased to exist, • WRM was restricted to the national levels only, • new, international framework required for a transnational WRM, • abandoned and partly ruined water way infrastructure, • planned new developments in countries and potenital harm effects to the environment.

• high environmental and socio-economic value, • relatively low degree of antrophogenic alteration, • need and obligation for environmental protection, • need for economic and social development…

…a transboundary sustainable river basin development plan is needed…

Dr. A. Bizjak / Practical experience of a Party in the implementation of the Convention: the case of Slovenia / Yaounde, 5 November 2019 SUB-REGIONAL LEVEL

Phases of the transboundary Sava iver basin IWRM development

Phase 1: Advanced political framework, diplomacy and water diplomacy Phase 2: Building up the operational and executive framework of the transboundary river basin management Phase 3: Building up the policy and technical framework of the transboundary river basin management Phase 4: Transboundary river basin cross-sectorial development plan, financing scheme and financing

1999 2002 2002 2005 2005 2014 2017+ P1 P2 P3 P4

Dr. A. Bizjak / Practical experience of a Party in the implementation of the Convention: the case of Slovenia / Yaounde, 5 November 2019 SUB-REGIONAL LEVEL

Stabilty Pact for Southeastern Europe (1999)

…a security community-building institution aimed at strengthening peace, democracy, human rights and economy in the countries of South Eastern Europe, based on social, economic and environmental issues.

Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, (Ukraine) (Source: WIKI)

1999 2002 P1

Dr. A. Bizjak / Practical experience of a Party in the implementation of the Convention: the case of Slovenia / Yaounde, 5 November 2019 SUB-REGIONAL LEVEL

Framework Agreement for the Sava River Basin – FASRB (2002) (Source: ISRBC) • signed in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, in December 2002, • parties: Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herezgovina, Serbia • the first development-oriented multilateral agreement in the region signed after the Agreement on Succession, Key objective: • transboundary cooperation for sustainable development of the region Particular objectives: • establishment of international regime of navigation, • ensuring sustainable water management, and • prevention or limitation of hazards (floods, droughts, accidents, etc.)

1999 2002 P1

Dr. A. Bizjak / Practical experience of a Party in the implementation of the Convention: the case of Slovenia / Yaounde, 5 November 2019 SUB-REGIONAL LEVEL

International Sava River Basin Commission (2002-2005)

ISRBC mission: implementation of the FASRB. ISRBC as an opened institution: • International organizations and institutions • Governmental sector – Officially nominated national institutions – Other national institutions • NGO sector

Structure and functioning of the ISRBC • Academic sector (Source: ISRBC) 1999 2002 2002 2005 • Business sector P1 P2

Dr. A. Bizjak / Practical experience of a Party in the implementation of the Convention: the case of Slovenia / Yaounde, 5 November 2019 SUB-REGIONAL LEVEL

Building up the policy and technical framework (Source: ISRBC ▪ Protocol on the navgiation regime to the FASRB (2002/2004) ▪ Protocol on the Prevention of the water pollution caused by navigation to the FASRB (2009/2017) ▪ Protocol on flood protection to the FASRB (2010/2015) ▪ Protocol on sediment management (2015/2017)

▪ Protocol on emergency situations (final harmonization) ▪ Protocol on transboundary impacts (in process)

1999 2002 2002 2005 2005 2014 P1 P2 P3

Dr. A. Bizjak / Practical experience of a Party in the implementation of the Convention: the case of Slovenia / Yaounde, 5 November 2019 SUB-REGIONAL LEVEL

Building up the policy and technical framework

▪ navigation development (technical standards, safety issues, project documentation, construction works, RIS informatics) ▪ river basin management (Sava RBMP I, 2014; SRBA II, 2017; SWMI II, 2017, outline Sava RBM II, 2017) ▪ flood management (Flood forecasting and warning system, 2018 ; Sava FRMP, expected late 2018) ▪ sediment management (Guidance on SSM, Proposal for Sediment Monitoring System)

(Source: ISRBC)

1999 2002 2002 2005 2005 2014 P1 P2 P3

Dr. A. Bizjak / Geneva Peace Week / ISRBC as an Instrument of Peace and Stability / Geneva, 9 November 2018 SUB-REGIONAL LEVEL

Building up the policy and technical framework

▪ hydrological and hydraulic modelling (Sava River Basin HM, 2017; Sava River HM, 2018) ▪ climate change adaptation (Water and climate adaptation plan for the Sava river basin, 2015) ▪ policy integration (UNECE Sava RB & UNECE Drina RB Water Food Energy Ecosystem Nexus, 2017, Outline of the CC Adaptation Strategy, January 2018) ▪ sustainable river tourism (nautical tourism, eco-tourism, recreational) ▪ data and information exchange (Sava GIS; INSPIRE, WFD, FD, ICPDR)

(Source: ISRBC) 1999 2002 2002 2005 2005 2014 P1 P2 P3

Dr. A. Bizjak / Geneva Peace Week / ISRBC as an Instrument of Peace and Stability / Geneva, 9 November 2018 SUB-REGIONAL LEVEL

Building up the policy and technical framework

▪ stakeholder involvement (consultation and participatory planning processes, Sava River Council Advisory Board, International Sava Youth Parliament, 1 June - International Sava River Day)

(Source: ISRBC) 1999 2002 2002 2005 2005 2014 P1 P2 P3

Dr. A. Bizjak / Geneva Peace Week / ISRBC as an Instrument of Peace and Stability / Geneva, 9 November 2018 SUB-REGIONAL LEVEL

Joint Plan of Actions for the Sava River Basin Sava-Drina River Corridor Integrated (ISRBC, 2017) Development Programme (World Bank, 2018)

Priority Area 1: Strenghtening the Sava river basin Component 1: Integrated Development planning to accelerate economic integration and of the Sava River Corridor (146 mio €) investments. Component 2: Sustainable Priority Area 2: Improving the navigability of the Sava Management of Environmental Assets water way. and Cascade of Dams in Drina Corridor Priority Area 3: Improving flood management and (65 mio €) monitoring. Component 3: Enabling regional Priority Area 4: Developing sustainable river tourism. economic integration, institutional support Priority Area 5: Protecting environment and adapting to and program management (12,5 mio €) climate change.

(Source: ISRBC) (Source: World Bank)

1999 2002 2002 2005 2005 2014 2017+ P1 P2 P3 P4

Dr. A. Bizjak / Geneva Peace Week / ISRBC as an Instrument of Peace and Stability / Geneva, 9 November 2018 REGIONAL LEVEL

International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) (Danube River Protection Convention, 1994 / 1998)

▪ 25 years of the DRPC

▪ 19 river basin countries ▪ 15 countries parties to the DRPC ▪ 80 million people

▪ Danube river is the most international river in the world ▪ ICPDR is the largest international body of RBM experts

▪ tackling pressures ▪ assessing the status of the river ▪ Joint Danube Survey 4 ▪ cross-border solidarity ▪ alerting downstream neighbours www.icpdr.org ▪ achieving basin-wide goals

Dr. A. Bizjak / Practical experience of a Party in the implementation of the Convention: the case of Slovenia / Yaounde, 5 November 2019 GLOBAL LEVEL

Development of the hydro-diplomacy (EU Conclusions 2013, 2018) Preventing and mitigating the water crisis Contributing to the water-peace-stability nexus

Global UN Agenda 2030 UNECE High Level Panel SDG 6 Water Convention on Indicators 6.5.1. & 6.5.2. Water and Peace

Dr. A. Bizjak / Practical experience of a Party in the implementation of the Convention: the case of Slovenia / Yaounde, 5 November 2019 CONCLUSIONS

Contribution of the UNECE Water Convention implementation to the transboundary IWRM policy development in Slovenia (1) at the national lelvel: • by boosting the cross-sectorial cooperation of sectors, involved in IWRM • by activating inter-sectorial working groups on different IWRM topics (in process) • by introducing new approaches, techniques and methods in transboundary IWRM

(2) at the bilateral level: • by updating of the work and content of the agendas of the commissions based on reporting to the Water Convention and to the UN Agenda 2030 SDG6 Indicators 6.5.1 and 6.5.2

(3) at the regional and sub-regional level: • by strengthening cooperation in transboundary basins of a regional and sub-regional scale • by promoting the three pillars of the Water Convention • by contributing diverse kind of resources for applications of the up-to-date approaches, methods, background studies, solutions on diverse fields of IWRM (IWRM, monitoring and assessment, nexus assessment, climate change adaptation, etc.)

(4) at the global level: • by supporting the development of the hydro-diplomacy (EU Conclusions 2013, 2018) • by being baseline tool for preventing or mitigating the water crisis • by contributing to the water-peace-stability nexus • by boosting the co-operation of Slovenia with other states in European region and beyond

Dr. A. Bizjak / Practical experience of a Party in the implementation of the Convention: the case of Slovenia / Yaounde, 5 November 2019 A KIND OF CONCLUSIONS

Almost everyone has an exceedingly inconsistent perception of reality. The only things they find real are the things that represent their interests. They find everything else, which is by all means just as real, abstract.

(Stephen Spender, English poet, 1909 – 1995)

Dr. A. Bizjak / Practical experience of a Party in the implementation of the Convention: the case of Slovenia / Yaounde, 5 November 2019 Thank you for your attention!

Dr. Aleš Bizjak Slovenian Water Agency Hajdrihova 28c 1000 Ljubljana Slovenia [email protected]

Dr. A. Bizjak / Practical experience of a Party in the implementation of the Convention: the case of Slovenia / Yaounde, 5 November 2019