By Flavia Loures, Senior Program Officer, International Law and Policy, Freshwater Program, WWF, and Ana Paula Parente, Project  Officer, UN Watercourses Convention Global Initiative, Freshwater Program, WWF

Rivers and lakes do not respect political boundaries, yet they are often the basis of them. How is ownership of water established when rivers, lakes, and aquifers cross, form, or lie underneath the borders of competing nations? What mechanisms exist to stop water from being held, diverted, or polluted by one country to the disadvantage of others? And what are the procedures or frameworks for considering claims or resolving disputes over transboundary water resources?

These are not trifling issues. Half the global land surface area and 40 percent of global population lies in the catchments of the 276 rivers that form or cross international borders. Three quarters of the world’s countries face potential disputes with neighbours over shared rivers, lakes, wetlands, or aquifers.

In the Middle East, 5 percent of the world’s people survive on 1 percent of its water; control of the River Jordan and access to it is a dominant issue in this volatile area. In Africa, Egypt has been ever ready to threaten upstream states on the Nile River over any plans they may have for developing the river. In Asia, China and India’s neighbours are increasingly concerned with unilateral plans for power generation in the Ganges-Brahmaputra, Indus, and Mekong basins.

Still, in the past 60 years, there have been only 37 cases of violence between states over water. This is ascribed, among other factors, to the existence of around 300 international agreements governing the use, management, and protection of transboundary waters. However, with climate change and other mounting threats to water resources, such as population growth and increasing water demand, the risk of more frequent and widespread conflicts within and between states looms on the horizon. This is especially true in a world where cooperative management frameworks exist for only about 40 percent of the world’s transboundary watersheds. Even where agreements exist, most have major failings and gaps (e.g., lack provisions on emergencies, dispute settlement, or transboundary water pollution) or do not involve all states within a basin.

Work to resolve these issues started well over 60 years ago when some noted international lawyers with the UN International Law Commission were tasked with developing a proposal for a global international agreement that would not only reduce the potential for conflict but also help guide equitable sharing and appropriate management of international waters.

Their efforts came to fruition in 1997, when an overwhelming majority of countries in the UN General Assembly voted to adopt a convention on the non-navigational uses of international watercourses – the UN Watercourses Convention. Voting for the convention in 1997 were 106 countries, with only three voting against: Burundi, China, and Turkey.

The UN Watercourses Convention aims to “ensure the utilization, development, conservation, management and protection of international watercourses and the promotion of the optimal and sustainable utilization thereof for present and future generations.” (Preamble) This mission is to be accomplished, for example, through procedures for notification of planned measures, exchange of information on the overall health and status of river systems, and well-developed dispute settlement mechanisms. The convention also encourages states to adopt joint management bodies for shared water basins and requires them to implement measures for dealing with water pollution and for protecting the ecosystems of international watercourses.

The convention is a tool for conflict prevention and socioeconomic development, addressing water resources as part of the peacemaking process, and taking into account the needs of developing countries, consistent with the UN charter. Although adopted more than a decade ago, the convention has yet to become effective. It counts today 20 contracting states – 15 short of the required number for entry into force. The contracting countries are Finland, Germany, Guinea-Bissau, Hungary, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Netherlands, Namibia, Nigeria, Norway, Portugal, Qatar, Spain, South Africa, Sweden, Syria, Tunisia, and Uzbekistan. Of course, some nations with key water issues remain absent from this list, such as those within major river basins, including the Amazon, the Congo, and the Mekong watersheds. Entry into force would serve as a compelling drive for more nations to become engaged in the ratification process and eventually join the convention, reinforcing its authority and influence in the relations between riparian states.

In 2006, WWF launched the UN Watercourses Convention Global Initiative to inform and support the convention’s entry into force and its future implementation. Since then, the initiative has evolved into a global effort of advocacy and capacity building led by WWF and other groups, and supported by key basin states, such as Ghana and Iraq, as well as major international donor countries, such as Norway, Sweden, and The Netherlands. As a result, awareness of the convention has increased considerably and a number of new countries are expected to announce their intent to sign. This could potentially enable the convention to enter into force by the end of 2011.

Renewed interest in Africa and Europe has recently boosted such prospects. The most recent countries to join were Tunisia and Spain, in 2009, and Guinea-Bissau and Nigeria, in 2010; two more countries from Europe are expected to complete the process by the end of this year. Other states in West Africa, including Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Niger, are expected to follow suit.

Momentum is building to hold discussions on the role and relevance of the convention for the Mediterranean region; the convention could bring new water champions to this region, where water resources are unevenly distributed, and fragile rivers and aquifers are at particular risk from over-extraction, drainage, infrastructure works and droughts. If widely endorsed by the Mediterranean countries, the UN Watercourses Convention could promote better transboundary water management and ensure political stability and peace in the region. Among such countries, France has recently confirmed its willingness to actively promote the convention, in addition to announcing its imminent ratification.

Now, therefore, is the time for more countries to become involved, especially those that voted in favour of the convention’s adoption but have yet to join, thereby fulfilling their commitment to the international community.

The entry into force of the UN Watercourses Convention is needed to address a major policy gap in the governance structure for international waters toward a more cooperative, peaceful, and secure world. Once in force, the convention will promote better, deeper, and more widespread and systematic levels of cooperation. On the other hand, if the convention remained ineffective, it would not gain binding effects for governing interstate relations in the absence of agreements; it could also become increasingly irrelevant and less likely to succeed in delivering on the job for which it was adopted. With climate change impacts threatening freshwater systems around the globe, an effective and widely endorsed UN Watercourses Convention is a vital pillar to support urgent work on climate change adaptation in a transboundary context and, by extension, prevent conflict.

Therefore, WWF calls on governments to join the UN Watercourses Convention as a matter of urgency, and calls on all actors in the international community, especially the United Nations itself, to become actively engaged in the process for the convention’s entry into force and future implementation.

You can find additional information including the full text of the UN Watercourses Convention here.See the current status of the Convention here.

For more information on the UN Watercourses Convention Global Initiative, please see here.

Published in: ECC-Newsletter, Ocotber 2010