Transboundary Waters

From WaterWiki

Facts

Globally, there are 263 watersheds that cross the political boundaries of two or more countries;
These watersheds represent about one half of the earth’s land surface and forty percent of global population;
145 countries have territory within one or more of these international water basins;
33 nations have over 95 percent of their territory within international river basins;
There are more than 3,600 treaties relating to international water resources dating from AD 805 to 1984. The majority of these treaties are concerned with some aspect of navigation;
In the last 50 years, 200 water-related treaties have been negotiated and signed;
The total number of water-related interactions between nations are weighted towards cooperation - there have been 507 conflict-related events as opposed to 1,228 cooperative ones;
In the 20th century, only seven minor skirmishes took place between nations over shared water resources, while over 145 treaties were signed during the same period of time;
The UN Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses was adopted May 21, 1997 after 27 years of development. The Global Convention sets out the basis rights and obligations between States relating to the management of international watercourses;
While the ten-year anniversary of the Watercourses Convention passed in May 2007, only 16 nations have ratified the Convention. For the Convention to enter into force, 35 ratifications are needed.
There are an estimated 300 transboundary aquifer systems in the world which lie under 15 percent of the earth’s land surface;
The Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses covered groundwater in a very limited way. 19 articles on the law of transboundary aquifers have been drafted by a team of hydrogeologists and lawyers drawn from UNESCO’s International Hydrological Programme (IHP) and the UN International Law Commission. The 6th Committee of UN General Assembly endorsed the articles and adopted a resolution on the Law of Transboundary Aquifers on Friday, 14 November 2008.
Two-thirds of the world’s 64 “Large Marine Ecosystems” (LME), where 85% of the world’s annual wild fish harvest are caught, are shared by two or more countries.

UNDP on Transboundary Waters

Clearly transboundary waterbodies constitute the norm, not the exception. At the same time, in many of these shared systems, governance and institutional structures to ensure efficient, equitable and sustainable use of freshwater and marine resources are either weak or lacking altogether, underscoring the need for more cooperation and enhanced support from donors, international organizations, and others to help strengthen these frameworks.

For over 15 years, through its GEF International Waters portfolio, UNDP has been providing support to assist over 100 countries in working jointly to identify, prioritize, understand, and address the key transboundary environmental and water resources issues of some of the world’s largest and most significant shared waterbodies. UNDP’s International Waters portfolio targets transboundary water systems, such as river basins where water flows from one country to another, multi-country lake basins, groundwater resources shared by several countries, and large marine ecosystems (LME) bounded by more than one nation. Through these projects, UNDP helps countries work with their neighbours to modify human activities – including agriculture, industry, mining, water and other resource extraction, fishing and wastewater management – that place ecological stress on the water systems and degrade them, often affecting their downstream use by another country or community. In this way, water use conflicts can be prevented, security and livelihoods improved, habitats protected, health risks minimized and water resources used sustainably for the benefit of all.

UNDP-GEF International Waters projects target priority global transboundary environmental and water resources concerns including nutrient overenrichment, overuse and conflicting uses of water resources in surface and groundwater systems, degradation of physical habitats in coastal and near-shore marine areas, lakes and watercourses, the introduction of aquatic alien species, and excessive exploitation of living aquatic resources and associated biodiversity. UNDP-GEF’s currently active IW portfolio totals about US$ 200 million in GEF grant funding and leverages an additional US$ 470 million in co-finance. Some of the most important results delivered to date by UNDP-GEF’s International Waters programme include:

Preparation and ministerial level adoption of 11 Strategic Action Programmes outlining national and regional commitments to governance reforms and investments; seven SAPs are now under implementation;
Preparation and adoption of four regional waterbody legal agreements, some of which have already come into force - Lake Tanganyika, Pacific Fisheries, Caspian Sea (with UNEP support);
The GEF-UNDP-IMO GloBallast programme is widely credited with playing a major role in helping catalyze adoption of an international Convention on Management of Ship Ballast Water and Sediments in 2004;
Creation and/or strengthening of 14 multi-country marine/coastal, river and lake basin Commissions, including establishment of the world’s first two Large Marine Ecosystem Commissions in 2006 (Benguela Current & Guinea Current LMEs);
Successful Strategic Partnership with the World Bank, European Union and other partners on nutrient reduction in the Danube/Black Sea basin led to measurable reductions in nutrient and other pollution loads to the highly degraded Black Sea ecosystem; Black Sea is now showing clear signs of recovery including reduced nutrient levels, elimination of enormous anoxic dead zone, and increased species abundance.

Additional Information

For further information on UNDP’s International Waters portfolio, see UNDP/GEF IW Portfolio

Transboundary Waters

From WaterWiki

Contents

Facts

UNDP on Transboundary Waters

Additional Information

See Also

Views

Personal tools

welcome

collaboration

quick reference

Navigation

Search

Toolbox