Conflicts, climate and cooperation: Water in focus at UN General Assembly meeting
Historically, international relations over water resources have involved more cooperation than conflict. To keep it this way even when climate change results in additional pressure on water, intensified diplomatic efforts underpinned by science are needed, the UN General Assembly heard in a recent science-based briefing.
Speakers at the 7 February event, which formed part of preparations for the UN 2023 Water Conference, to be held in March, highlighted the need for global leaders to demonstrate political will to handle the global water crisis in a cooperative manner.
Susanne Schmeier, IHE Delft Associate Professor of Water Law and Diplomacy and head of the Institute’s Water Governance Department, called for a proactive approach to water cooperation.
“There is cooperation in the sense of absence of conflict, but if we really want to harvest the benefits of what shared water resources can bring, (…) we have to go beyond that absence of conflict and do things together, move from crisis management mode to real resilience,” she said, noting that academics can support policy-making.
IHE Delft visiting scholar Aaron Wolf, Professor of Geography at the College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University, said that in two-thirds of the 1,800 international incidents involving water, countries have chosen to cooperate - violent conflict over water has been very rare in the past.
He cautioned, however, that “as fresh water becomes scarce, tensions increase,” and noted that joint action on water is particularly important considering the current pressure on the multilateral system.