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Transboundary water cooperation
Nick Bonvoisin, Secretary to the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Waters and International Lakes,
and Co-Secretary to its Protocol on Water and Health, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
O
ver half of the world’s precious freshwater flows in the
catchment areas, or basins, of rivers, lakes and aqui-
fers that cross national borders. These transboundary
basins are home to about 40 per cent of the world’s population.
Whether and how countries cooperate in the protection and
use of these water resources therefore has a profound impact
on society, the economy, the environment and on the water
resources themselves. Countries sharing a transboundary basin
share interests, risks and opportunities in the joint develop-
ment, use, management and protection of transboundary water
resources. Where there is a lack of cooperation, and where
disputes over water arise, water management is inefficient,
impacting water quantity, quality and socioeconomic integrity,
as well as raising political tension.
And water wars? The alarm bell has been rung many times but actual
conflict seems rare. However, new research by the Strategic Foresight
Group think tank suggests that “countries that have cooperative
arrangements in shared water enjoy overall peace and cooperation
even in non-water sectors. Conversely, the countries that do not
have any or good water cooperation arrangements tend to have very
poor security environments and risk conflict and blood-
shed for reasons not related to water.”
International water law provides a valuable frame-
work for cooperation, and thus conflict prevention.
Countries of the pan-European region, member states of
the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
(UNECE), completed the negotiation of the Convention
on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Waters
and International Lakes as the Soviet Union came to an
end. The convention was adopted and signed by coun-
tries in Helsinki in 1992 – which is why it is sometimes
called the Helsinki Convention – just as new borders
appeared with the dissolution of first the Soviet Union
and then Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia. Rivers and
lakes that had previously flowed within national borders
now crossed new borders, and competing uses became
international rather than domestic affairs.
The countries that subsequently joined the conven-
tion (the parties) recognized that the protection and use
of transboundary watercourses and international lakes
are important and urgent tasks, the effective accom-
plishment of which can only be ensured by enhanced
cooperation. They were also concerned over the exist-
ence and threats of adverse effects, in the short or long
term, of changes in the conditions of transboundary
watercourses and international lakes on the environ-
ment, economies and well-being of countries.
The convention therefore requires its parties to
take all appropriate measures to prevent, control
and reduce transboundary impacts, and to ensure
that transboundary waters are used in a reasonable
and equitable way. But what brings into effect these
fine demands is the further requirement that ripar-
ian parties – countries that share a transboundary
river or aquifer, or an international lake – establish
joint agreements that foresee joint bodies responsi-
ble for joint management. And this the parties and
other countries have successfully done, negotiating
new agreements across the pan-European region. For
example, the convention has contributed to or served
as a model for the treaties on the Chu-Talas, Danube,
Dniester, Drin, Narva , Sava and Rhine rivers, as well
as for agreements on the Kazakh-Russian, Russian-
Ukrainian, Belarus-Russian, Belarus-Ukrainian,
Russian-Mongolian and many other transboundary
waters. States have also established joint bodies –
including for the rivers Danube, Elbe, Meuse, Oder
W
ater
D
iplomacy
Safe drinking water is a universal right
Image: UNECE