Green Cross Australia's Riversymposium speech "Why the UN Watercourses Convention is more crucial than ever"
A speech delivered to the Riversymposium on the 3rd September 2008 on water security and international water courses

IPCC 2008 Climate Change and Water Report
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Technical Paper VI

Everything you need to know about the UN Watercourses Convention
By Flavia Loures, Dr. Alistair Rieu-Clarke and Marie-Laure Vercambre

Why the UK Government must support the UN Watercourses Convention
The UK government can and should take a lead on international water management - pertinent for Australia!

Bertrand Charrier, Vice President of GCI talks about the Access to Water Programme, watch the video

Half the world’s population lives in river basins shared by two or more countries, and lack of cooperation between those sharing these precious water resources is causing reduced living standards, devastating environmental problems, and even potential conflicts.

There are 263 rivers worldwide that cross international boundaries, many of which are being significantly degraded through poor and uncoordinated management.  These rivers cover half the Earth’s land surface, are home to 40% of the world’s people and contain 60% of global river flows.

At the moment, there is no convention which establishes the rights of downstream nations to influence the sustainable use of rivers upstream of their borders. This raises concerns for the health of river systems and the communities that depend on them for their livelihoods.

UN Watercourses Convention

The UN Watercourses Convention on the law of Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses (UN Rivers Convention) was adopted at the UN General Assembly in New York on 23 May 1997. Australia was among the 103 states that voted for the convention.  Only 3 states voted against the convention, making it one of the most strongly supported conventions in UN history.

The convention applies to watercourses shared by two or more countries and covers management of shared water resources, such as equitable use of waters, with specific attention to human needs, protection of the aquatic environment and the promotion of cooperative management mechanisms.  

To date, 16 countries have ratified the convention.  However, accession by 35 countries is required before the treaty can enter into force. 
 

Ratification

Green Cross is working with WWF around the world to ensure that this vital convention is ratified in time for the 2009 Instanbul Water Forum. In Australia our efforts are focussed on drawing the links between regional security and sea level rise which may lead to significant conflicts around river management issues for which the world is largely unprepared. 

If the Convention is ratified, the world would have a much stronger way to preserve ecosystems and to prevent, reduce and control pollution and invasive species while protecting marine environments such as estuaries.  The Convention also provides guidance on emergency situations, such as natural disasters.  

Globally Australia is seen as a leader in this area, and because of population growth, rules around river management will become more important in future.  

Urgent action needed 

The world’s population has doubled since the 1960s and is set to increase further, by 50%, from 6 billion to 9 billion, between now and 2050.  Lifestyle expectations are changing as more developing countries become urbanized and aspire to standards set by high-consuming western countries, per capita use of water will increase. 

Climate change is anticipated to dramatically change water availability in some parts of the world, with those areas that are already facing water shortages becoming even drier, and with many countries storing more water to overcome greater variability in supplies, generating more hydropower, and growing more thirsty crops for biofuels. 

Increasing water scarcity will lead to more conflicts between countries unless the equitable and collaborative water management systems supported by the Convention are adequately implemented.

Green Cross International

Through the Water for Peace project, Green Cross International  is working with governments, local authorities and civil society to remove the obstacles to integrated and cooperative water management, and resolve related conflicts, in six important international basins across the world: the Parana La Plata, the Jordan, the Volga, the Okavango, the Volta and the Danube.