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In Africa, most major rivers, freshwater lakes, and aquifers are shared by two or more countries. These nations are becoming increasingly vulnerable to conflict, and their vulnerabilities are made more acute by climatic variations in precipitation, increasing urbanization, industrialization and environmental degradation. The concept of resilience and vulnerability as it relates to water resources is tackled in this report within the framework of sustainability and relates to the ability of the human and bio-physical systems to adapt to change.
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In The Community of Interest Approach in International Water Law, Julie Gjørtz Howden identifies the normative elements of the community of interest approach (COIA) in international water law, and demonstrates how the approach can provide a legal framework for common management of international watercourses. Through analyses of various features of international watercourse cooperation and common management, the book determines the main principles and the underlying values of the COIA, and discusses how the approach contributes to the development of international water law. Although the COIA is one of the central theories of international water law, very few analytical accounts of its legal features exist. Through The Community of Interest Approach in International Water Law, Howden offers a new and fresh approach to international water law that pulls together questions of holistic management, State sovereignty, public participation and river basin organisations into the analyses of the COIA and its relevance for managing transboundary watercourses today.
A radical new approach to tackling the growing threat of water scarcity Water is essential to life, yet humankind’s relationship with water is complex. For millennia, we have perceived it as abundant and easily accessible. But water shortages are fast becoming a persistent reality for all nations, rich and poor. With demand outstripping supply, a global water crisis is imminent. In this trenchant critique of current water policies and practices, Edward Barbier argues that our water crisis is as much a failure of water management as it is a result of scarcity. Outdated governance structures and institutions, combined with continual underpricing, have perpetuated the overuse and undervaluation of water and disincentivized much-needed technological innovation. As a result “water grabbing” is on the rise, and cooperation to resolve these disputes is increasingly fraught. Barbier draws on evidence from countries across the globe to show the scale of the problem, and outlines the policy and management solutions needed to avert this crisis.
This book offers an overview of emerging security challenges in the global environment in the post-Cold War era. After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the subsequent shifting of international political environment, a new broader concept of security began to gain acceptance. This concept encompassed socio-economic-environmental challenges, such as resource scarcity and climate change, water-sharing issues, deforestation and forest protection measures, food and health security, and large population migration. The book examines the causes and consequences of these emerging security threats, and retains a critical focus on evolving approaches to address these issues. The author attempts to devel...
Increasingly the Middle East and its growing population face a highly complex and fragile security system. The rich deposits of natural resources, such as oil and gas, suffer from a strained renewable resource base that includes water and arable land. This leads to water scarcity, desertification, and land degradation. Increasing population, industrialization, and urbanization put more and more demand on the food supply. Energy insecurity may not be generally associated with the Middle East, but the countries in the eastern Mediterranean part have been traditionally vulnerable to it as their fossil fuel endowments have been low. Another issue is the large-scale temporary labor migration and the large number of forced migrants, refugees, and internally displaced persons. The book analyzes these emerging security challenges in a comprehensive and systematic manner. It draws national and regional security issues into both the global security and human security perspectives.
Investments in water and sanitation are a prerequisite to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular on SDG 6 ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. Blended finance can play an important role in strategically investing development finance to mobilise additional commercial finance needed to fill the current investment gaps. Thus far, however, blended finance has not reached scale in the water and sanitation sector. A greater evidence base is needed to better understand the current applications as well as the potential of blended models in the water and sanitation sector. This publication takes a commercial investment perspective and provides insights into three subsectors: (1) water and sanitation utilities, (2) small-scale off-grid sanitation and (3) multi-purpose water infrastructure and landscape-based approaches. The publication draws out recommendations for policy makers and practitioners to apply and scale innovative blended finance approaches where most appropriate.
The objective of this book is to broadly illustrate the key aspects of water governance, mapping the spectrum of decision-making from techno-centric and eco-centric approaches, to hybrid concepts and people-centric approaches. Topics covered include the challenges for water-governance models, the polycentric model, the integration challenge, water in the decision-making hierarchy, and the rise of water-sensitive design, while also taking into account interdependencies between stakeholders, as well as the issue of scale. The book’s content is presented in an integrated and comprehensive format, building on detailed case studies from around the world and the authors’ working experiences in the water sector. Combining essential insights with accessible, non-technical language, it offers a valuable resource for academics, technicians and policy-makers alike.
At the UN General Assembly in 1997, an overwhelming majority of States voted for the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses – a global overarching framework governing the rights and duties of States sharing freshwater systems. Globally, there are 263 internationally shared watersheds, which drain the territories of 145 countries and represent more than forty percent of the Earth's land surface. Hence, inter-State cooperation towards the sustainable management of transboundary water supplies, in accordance with applicable international legal instruments, is a topic of crucial importance, especially in the context of th...